Teaching & Teacher Education, Ph.D.

The mathematics education specialization prepares students to be leaders and researchers in mathematics education with a particular focus on equity in teaching and learning. The program is deeply concerned with questions related to who has opportunities to learn mathematics and why and how families and communities are resources of rich mathematical learning. A particular strength of the program is in elementary and middle school mathematics, although, through the program’s relationship with the UA Department of Mathematics, the program also work with graduate students with interests in secondary and undergraduate mathematics education.

Doctoral opportunities

Students in the program have opportunities to participate in grant-funded research projects and teach undergraduate courses including elementary mathematics methods. As part of the program, you will develop academic and research skills through a) coursework in mathematics education and teacher education, b) participation in research projects, and c) completion of comprehensive examinations and a dissertation.

Graduates of the program are prepared to become professors in colleges of education or departments of mathematics, to work in research positions in educational research laboratories or educational publishing companies, or to take up leadership roles in state departments of education or school districts.

Faculty

Marta Civil
Professor of Mathematics Education
Roy F. Graesser Endowed Chair in the Department of Mathematics
civil@math.arizona.edu

Civil’s research focuses on cultural, social, and language aspects in the teaching and learning of mathematics, linking in-school and out-of-school mathematics, and parental engagement in mathematics. Her work is situated in working class, Mexican-American communities and is based on a funds of knowledge orientation. She has led several NSF-funded initiatives involving children, teachers, and parents, including Girls in the SYSTEM (Sustaining Youth in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), a gender equity project aimed at engaging low-income, culturally diverse children ages 8-13 in hands-on mathematics and science explorations in informal and after-school settings; MAPPS (Math and Parent Partnerships in the Southwest), which had as a goal to promote Latina/o parental involvement in mathematics through the development of leadership teams who learned about mathematics and in turn facilitated workshops for parents within their school district; and CEMELA (Center for the Mathematics Education of Latinos/as), an interdisciplinary, multi-university consortium focused on research and practice on the connections between the teaching and learning of mathematics and the cultural, social, and linguistic contexts of Latina/o students. She is currently a Co-Principal investigator in NSF-funded AZ Noyce Mathematics Teaching (MaTh), aimed at recruiting undergraduate students to become mathematics teachers at the secondary school level with an emphasis on working with diverse students. She is also the PI for “Let’s talk about math: Parents and teachers talking and doing mathematics together” funded by the Heising-Simons foundation and aimed at promoting family engagement in mathematics (K-3) for low-income, culturally and linguistically diverse families including children of immigrant origin, many of whom are emergent bilinguals.

Erin Turner
Associate Professor of Mathematics Education
eturner@email.arizona.edu

Prior to joining the TLS faculty, Turner conducted research in bilingual kindergarten classrooms in New Mexico, and taught a 4th/5th grade dual-language (Spanish/English) teacher in Phoenix. Her scholarship focuses on issues of equity and social justice in mathematics education. Specifically, her work examines how mathematics instruction can draw upon children’s multiple mathematical funds of knowledge (e.g., their mathematical thinking, as well as their cultural, linguistic and/or community-based knowledge and experiences) in ways that support mathematical understanding and a sense of agency. Because of her particular interest in the mathematics education of Latino/a students, including those who are English Learners (ELs), she situates her work in the context of predominantly Latino/a communities and schools. She is/has been a principal investigator for numerous externally funded research and professional development initiatives, including TEACH MATH (Teachers Empowered to Advance Change in Mathematics), which focuses on how preservice teachers learn to integrate children’s multiple mathematical funds of knowledge in their instruction, and most recently Mathematical Modeling in Cultural and Community Contexts (M2C3), which examines the teaching and learning of mathematical modeling in grades 3-5.

Marcy Wood
Associate Professor of Mathematics Education

Wood’s research interests arise from her experiences as a third and fourth grade teacher. She explores the mathematical learning of elementary students, and specifically students who have not yet been successful in mathematics classrooms. Her current research uses the tools of discourse and identity to examine mathematical learning (or not) and to assist teachers in supporting the mathematical learning of their students. She also draw upon sociocultural theories, cognitive theories, and conceptual metaphors as structures for understanding mathematical learning. In addition, she has considerable expertise in Complex Instruction (CI), a model for teaching developed by Elizabeth Cohen and Rachel Lotan at Stanford University. CI is a theoretical and practical framework for helping all students succeed in engaging rigorous mathematics.

Coursework

In addition to the required coursework for the Teaching and Teacher Education Ph.D. program, the mathematics specialization offers several courses specifically for mathematics education and science education graduate students, including:

• TTE 542: School Mathematics and Science: History, Curriculum, and Reform
• TTE 541: Equity, Diversity, and Social Justice in Math/Science Education
• TTE 519: Learning in Mathematics and Science
• TTE 538: Teaching Science and Mathematics Methods to Preservice Teachers
• TTE 596C: Indigenous Knowledge in Mathematics and Science
• TTE 580: Groupwork in Diverse Classrooms