Category: Top 3 News

Dan Siebert recently published an article title "GPS: Replicating Patterns" in the Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12 journal. Dan has answered a few questions about this article below: Who were your co-authors on this article? Monica G. McLeod Who would you say is the target audience for this article? K-12 teachers What is the big problem you hoped to address with this article? This article provides 4 problems, one for each of the grade bands K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. It addresses how the activity of identifying patterns changes and evolves as students progress in mathematics. What are some of the key ideas in the article? One of the big ideas is that students need to learn how to identify which quantities stay constant and which grow linearly. Often…

Steven Jones recently had a paper titled “Approaches to Integration based on Quantitative Reasoning: Adding Up Pieces and Accumulation from Rate” published in the conference proceedings for the Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education conference. Steven has answered a few questions about this paper below:  Who were your co-authors on this paper? Robert Ely, University of Idaho Who would you say is the target audience for this paper? Math Education researchers, calculus instructors, and anyone new to the field of calculus education. What is the big problem you hoped to address with this paper? There's been substantial recognition of the need for integral instruction to move past the stereotypical "area-under-a-curve" meaning to one based on quantities and quantitative reasoning. However, research on these types of approaches are scattered across many journals,…

Blake Peterson and Keith Leatham recently had a paper titled “Conducting a Whole Class Discussion About an Instance of Student Mathematical Thinking” published in the conference proceedings for the Psychology of Mathematics Education – North America (PMENA) conference. Blake has answered a few questions about this paper below:  Who were your co-authors on this paper? Shari Stockero – Michigan Technological University and Laura Van Zoest – Western Michigan University Who would you say is the target audience for this paper? The broad mathematics education community – both researchers and teachers. What is the big problem you hoped to address with this paper? Mathematics Educators often talk about the importance of using student mathematical thinking during instruction but what does that use really look like. What are some of the key…

Doug Corey and Steven Jones recently edited a book titled “Sharing and Storing Knowledge about Teaching Undergraduate Mathematics: An Introduction to a Written Genre for Sharing Lesson-specific Instructional Knowledge” They have answered a few questions about this publication below. What was the genesis of this book? We had done a study to see what kind of materials were available to university mathematics instructors. It was lacking in resources to help teach specific content, and in sharing reasoning of experts through instructional decisions. In order to address these needs, we developed a written genre for instructors to share their instructional knowledge on teaching specifics content. We call the genre "Lesson Analysis" and a written example of a Lesson Analysis, a "Lesson Analysis Manuscript", or LAM for short. LAMs give instructors a…

Dan Siebert recently had a paper titled “Uses of the Equal Sign and Equation Types in Middle School Mathematics Textbooks” published in the conference proceedings for the Psychology of Mathematics Education – North America conference. Dan has answered a few questions about this paper below:  Who were your co-authors on this paper? Chelsea Dickson Who would you say is the target audience for this paper? Math Education Researchers What is the big problem you hoped to address with this paper? To better understand what meanings of the equal sign are used in secondary school mathematics and how to decipher which meaning is appropriate in a particular context. What are some of the key ideas in the article? We found that middle school curricula use three different meanings of the equal…

Tenille Cannon and Sharon Christensen were recently awarded a grant to work with mentor teachers. They have answered a few questions about this award below. What was the genesis of the ideas behind this project? There is a need for more math education mentor teachers who can provide the needed support for the math ed student teachers. We also wanted to build a collaborative group of mentor teachers. What is the timeline of the project associated with this grant? There was a 3-day summer workshop held June 14-16, 2022. There will also be four monthly follow-up meetings in September, October, November and December 2022. What would you say is the main goal to be accomplished with this funding? Improve the student teaching experience for both student teachers and mentor teachers.…

Malissia Perkins was awarded the outstanding student award from the Mathematics Education department for Fall Semester 2022. She will be doing her student teaching fall semester and graduating in December 2022.

Keith Leatham and Blake Peterson recently published an article titled “Teachers’ Responses to Instances of Student Mathematical Thinking with Varied Potential to Support Student Learning” in the Mathematics Education Research Journal. Keith has answered a few questions about this article below:  Who were your co-authors on this article? Shari L. Stockero, Laura R. Van Zoest, Ben Freeburn, and Blake E. Peterson Who would you say is the target audience for this article? Mathematics teacher educators and researchers What is the big problem you hoped to address with this article? The big problem is that we don't know enough about teachers decisions with regards to using student contributions during instruction in order to sufficiently inform work preparing teacher to productively use student mathematical thinking. To contribute to solving this problem we…

Thanks to Joe Wytiaz who spent three years working with our department as the Clinical Faculty Associate. We wish you the best in your future endeavors.

Blake Peterson recently published an article titled “Area of a Changing Triangle: Piecing It Together” in the Mathematics Teacher: Teaching and Learning PK-12. Blake has answered a few questions about this article below:  Who would you say is the target audience for this article? High school teachers What is the big problem you hoped to address with this article? Piecewise functions are usually taught in a very abstract way and void of context. I saw this problem in Japan and was fascinated to see a context for piecewise functions and even more interesting was that some of the pieces were not linear. I think the context can make piecewise functions more accessible for students. What are some of the key ideas in the article? With some careful scaffolding and board…