Research & Practice

Here, we include MODULE(S2) Project efforts to advance both practitioner and research knowledge through academic articles / proceedings / books and at academic conferences / events.


Featured Manuscripts

Enhancing prospective secondary teachers’ potential competence for enacting core teaching practices—through experiences in university mathematics and statistics courses

Journal Article

Lai, Y., Strayer, J. F., Ross, A., Adamoah, K., Anhalt, C. O., Bonnesen, C., Casey, S., Kohler, B., Lischka, A. E. (in press). Enhancing prospective secondary teachers’ potential competence for enacting core teaching practices—through experiences in university mathematics and statistics courses. ZDM – Mathematics Education. Link to Article.


Engaging teachers in the combination of statistical investigation and social justice: Fairness in school funding

Journal Article

Casey, S., Bondurant, L., & Ross, A. (2023). Engaging teachers in the combination of statistical investigation and social justice: Fairness in school funding. Mathematics Teacher Educator, 11(2), 139-142. DOI: 10.5951/MTE.2022.0016. Link to Article.


Developing equity literacy and critical statistical literacy in secondary mathematics pre-service teachers

Journal Article

Casey, S., & Ross, A. (2022). Developing equity literacy and critical statistical literacy in secondary mathematics pre-service teachers. Mathematics Teacher Educator, 11 (1), 40-56. DOI: 10.5951/MTE.2021.0015. Link to Article.


Interrogation of social justice contexts in mathematical modeling: The use of simulations of practice in the mathematical preparation of teacher

Presentation and Conference Proceedings

Anhalt, C., Cortez, R., Kohler, B., & Tidwell, W. (2022). Interrogation of social justice contexts in mathematical modeling: The use of simulations of practice in the mathematical preparation of teachers. Proceedings of the International Conference of The Mathematics Education for the Future Project. King’s College, Cambridge University, UK. DOI: 10.37626/GA9783959872188.0.006. Link to Proceedings.


Revealing prospective secondary teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching in teacher-created representations of practice

Journal Article

Lischka, A. E., Lai, Y., Czap, L., & Strayer, J. (2021). Revealing prospective secondary teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching in teacher-created representations of practice. The Mathematician Educator, 2(2), 86-106. Link to Article.


Characterizing prospective secondary teachers’ foundation and contingency knowledge for definitions of transformations

Presentation and Conference Proceedings

Lai, Y., Lischka, A. E., & Strayer, J. F. (2021). Characterizing prospective secondary teachers’ foundation and contingency knowledge for definitions of transformations. In D. Olanoff, K. Johnson, & S. Spitzer (Eds.) Proceedings of the forty-third annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 437-446). Philadelphia, PA. Link to Proceedings.


Shaping the professional growth of mathematics faculty who teach prospective secondary teachers

Presentation and Conference Proceedings

Czap, L., Ahrens, S., Lai, Y., & Lischka, A. E. (2021). Shaping the professional growth of mathematics faculty who teach prospective secondary teachers. In D. Olanoff, K. Johnson, & S. Spitzer (Eds.) Proceedings of the forty-third annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 733-737). Philadelphia, PA. Link to Proceedings.


Modeling memorization: A data collection and mathematical modeling experience

Journal Article

Tidwell, W., Anhalt, C., Cortez, R., & Kohler, B. (2022). Modeling memorization: A data collection and mathematical modeling experience. Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies (PRIMUS), DOI: 10.1080/10511970.2022.2068091. Link to Article.


Developing mathematical knowledge in and for teaching in content courses

Book Chapter

In this chapter, we argue that providing opportunities for prospective teachers to build MKT requires educative curricular materials (Davis & Krajcik, 2005) that simultaneously support the learning of university mathematics instructors as well as the prospective teachers themselves. In addition, we describe an emergent, research-based design for developing and implementing these curriculum materials and propose priorities for those seeking to capitalize on the NIC model in future work. The efforts described in this chapter contribute to the overall vision for the transformation of secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs presented in this book by addressing the Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership (MTE-Partnership)’s Guiding Principles for Secondary Mathematics Teacher Preparation Programs (2014) that focus on teacher candidate knowledge, skills, and dispositions.

Lischka, A. E., Lai, Y., Strayer, J. F., & Anhalt, C. (2020). Developing mathematical knowledge in and for teaching in content courses. In G. W. Martin, B. R. Lawler, A. E. Lischka, & W. M. Smith (Eds.) The Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership: The Power of a Networked Improvement Community to Transform Secondary Mathematics Teacher Preparation (pp. 119-141). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.


Mathematics instructors’ attention to instructional interactions in discussions of teaching rehearsals

Presentation and Conference Proceedings

In our project, we develop curricular materials to support prospective secondary teachers’ development of MKT and provide professional development (PD) opportunities for instructors who will teach with these materials. In this paper, we examine the ways in which mathematics faculty engage in the teaching rehearsal debriefs included in the PD to answer the question: To what instructional interactions do instructors of mathematics content courses attend during rehearsal debriefs enacted in PD? Findings show that mathematics instructors attend to all types of interactions but attention is influenced by instructors’ mathematical knowledge.

Czap, L., Ahrens, S., Lischka, A. E., & Lai, Y. (2020). Mathematics instructors’ attention to instructional interactions in discussions of teaching rehearsals. In Proceedings of the 2020 PME-NA Conference (in press).


Social justice mathematical modeling for teacher preparation

Dissertation

Today’s math teachers face significant social and political challenges for which they receive little preparation. Mathematics content courses can potentially provide additional preparation in this regard by providing future teachers with experiences to mathematically explore social justice issues. This provides them with opportunities to increase their awareness and sensitivity to social justice issues, develop greater empathy for their future students, and serve as examples for high quality instruction that they can emulate in their future careers. This dissertation recounts the development and revision of three social justice mathematical modeling projects, and shares evidence from student work samples of the ways in which the experience impacted students’ lives. The implications of this work for teacher preparation and modeling education are discussed.

Seegmiller, P. (2020) Social Justice Mathematical Modeling for Teacher Preparation. [Dissertation]. Utah State University.


Theoretical report: A framework for examining prospective teachers’ use of mathematical knowledge for teaching in mathematics courses

Presentation and Conference Proceedings

This theoretical report addresses the challenge and promise of improving prospective secondary mathematics teachers’ experiences in undergraduate mathematics courses by incorporating tasks embedded in pedagogical contexts. The objective of this approach, used by multiple nationally- funded projects, is to enhance the development of teachers’ MKT. We report on the construction of a framework for observing and analyzing the development of teachers’ MKT. This framework is the result of integrating several existing frameworks and analyzing a sample of prospective secondary teachers’ responses to tasks embedded in pedagogical contexts. We discuss the methods used to build this framework, the strengths and weaknesses of the framework, and the potential of the framework for informing future work in curriculum design and implementation.

Lai, Y., Strayer, J., Lischka, A., Anhalt., C., Quinn, C. & Reed, S. (2019). Theoretical report: A framework for examining prospective teachers’ use of mathematical knowledge for teaching in mathematics courses. In A. Weinberg, D. Moore-Russo, H. Soto, & M. Wawro (Eds.), Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp.765-773). Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. http://sigmaa.maa.org/rume/RUME22_Proceedings.pdf


Prospective secondary teachers’ conceptions of congruence proof from a transformation perspective.

We are called by recent standards to promote teachers’ learning of a transformation approach  in geometry and its proofs. Teachers who learned geometry from a perspective based on  Euclid’s Elements are now called to teach geometry using different proofs and axioms from what  they learned. Moreover, there is little literature on teachers’ learning of geometry from a  transformation perspective. To begin to address this problem, we analyze the teachers’ use of the  conceptual link between congruence and transformation in the context of constructing proofs.  We identify possible key developmental understandings involved in using the definition of  congruence and in the construction of transformation proofs, pointing to concepts that may need  to be specifically addressed in teacher education.

St. Goar, J., Lai, Y., & Funk, R. (2019). Prospective secondary teachers’ conceptions of congruence proof from a transformation perspective. In A. Weinberg, D. Moore-Russo, H. Soto, & M. Wawro (Eds.), Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp.247-254). Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. http://sigmaa.maa.org/rume/RUME22_Proceedings.pdf


Analyzing the development of MKT in content courses

Presentation and Conference Proceedings

To improve teaching and learning in content courses for secondary mathematics teachers, we take the approach of supporting faculty who teach these courses – often mathematics faculty – in developing their own mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT) at the secondary level. We describe a framework that has informed the design of educative curricula for a set of these courses. This framework integrates theory for knowledge development, empirical work on dimensions of knowledge used in teaching, and findings on observable behaviors in teaching that reveal prospective secondary teachers’ knowledge development.

Lai, Y., Strayer, J., & Lischka, A. E. (2018). Analyzing the development of MKT in content courses. In T.E. Hodges, G.J. Roy, & A.M. Tyminski, A. M. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 40th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 496-499). Greenville, SC: University of South Carolina & Clemson University.


Developing Preservice Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in Content Courses

In this paper we present evidence that a) providing opportunities for PSMTs to engage with  simulations of practice and b) making connections between advanced perspectives on geometry  and 7-12 mathematics allows PSMTs to develop MKT in university mathematics content courses.

Strayer, J. F., Lischka, A., Quinn, C. M. & Watson, L. (2018). Workshop: Engaging Statistics Teachers through Connections to the Teaching of School Statistics and Educational Equity Issues. Developing preservice teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching in content courses. In A. Weinberg, C. Rasmussen, J. Rabin, M. Wawro, and S. Brown (Eds.), Proceedings of the 21st Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 826-833). San Diego, California.


Featured Presentations

No Compromise: Advancing Content Knowledge Together with Critical Consciousness in Teacher Preparation

Twenty-Seventh Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, February 2-4, 2023, New Orleans, LA

Presenters: Cynthia Anhalt, Liza Bondurant, Stephanie Casey, Ricardo Cortez, Brynja Kohler, & Will Tidwell

Development and Measurement of Statistical Knowledge for Teaching

Forty-fourth annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, November 19, 2022, Nashville, TN

Presenters: Stephanie Casey and Jeremy Strayer

Interrogation of Social Justice Contexts in Mathematical Modeling: The Use of Simulations of Practice in the Mathematical Preparation of Teachers

International Conference of the Mathematics Education for the Future Project, August 8-12, 2022, King’s College, Cambridge University, UK

Presenters: Cynthia Anhalt, Ricardo Cortez, Brynja Kohler, Will Tidwell

Developing Pre-Service Teachers’ Equity Literacy in Content Courses

NSF IUSE Summit, June 1-3, 2022, Washington, D.C.

Presenters: Stephanie Casey, Brynja Kohler, Cynthia Anhalt, and Jeremy Strayer

Using Representations of Teaching Practice in Content Courses: Opportunities for Developing Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching

AMTE Annual Conference, February 10, 2022, Henderson, Nevada

Presenters: Stephanie Casey, Alyson Lischka, and Cynthia Anhalt

Preparing and Supporting Teachers to Include Mathematical Modeling in Their Curriculum

SIAM-ED Annual Conference, July 11-12, 2022, Pittsburgh, PA

Presenter: Brynja Kohler

Research in Mathematical Modeling for Secondary Teacher Education

SIAM-ED Annual Conference, July 11-12, 2022, Pittsburgh, PA

Presenter: Cynthia Anhalt

Mathematics Education as a Mathematician’s Research Discipline

SIAM-ED Annual Conference, July 11-12, 2022, Pittsburgh, PA

Presenter: Ricardo Cortez

Implementing Mathematical Modeling with Prospective Elementary Teachers

SIAM-ED Annual Conference, July 11-12, 2022, Pittsburgh, PA

Presenter: Will Tidwell

Addressing Academic Status via Authentic Mathematical Modeling Tasks

SIAM-ED Annual Conference, July 11-12, 2022, Pittsburgh, PA

Presenter: Amy Bennett

Examining Education Stereotypes and Promoting Community-Related Projects in Mathematics Teacher Education

TODOS: Mathematics for All Annual Conference, June 21-23, 2021 (virtual).

Presenters: Andrew Ross, Stephanie Casey, and Melody Wilson

Teacher Education Curriculum Materials that Develop Statistical Knowledge for Teaching

Virtual Webinar CauseWeb Webinar, February 9, 2021 at 2:00-2:30PM (virtual)

Presenters: Stephanie Casey and Andrew Ross

Developing Statistical Knowledge for Teaching with an Emphasis on Equity Literacy

Joint Mathematics Meetings, January 6-9, 2021 (virtual)

Presenters: Andrew M. Ross, Stephanie Casey, Melody Wilson

Special Session: Mathematics Courses Designed to Develop Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching High School

Joint Mathematics Meetings, January 6-9, 2021 (virtual)

Organizer: James J. Madden, Yvonne Lai, James Am. M. Alvarez, and Jennifer Whitefield

Mathematical Modeling Modules: Curriculum Material for Secondary Teacher Education

Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership Conference, June 28-30, 2020

Presenters: Ricardo Cortez, Cynthia Anhalt, and Brynja Kohler

Mathematical Modeling Modules: Curriculum Material for Secondary Teacher Education

Mathematics Teacher Education-Partnership Conference, June 2020

Presenters: Ricardo Cortez, Cynthia Anhalt, and Brynja Kohler

Instructors’ attention to instructional relationships during professional development for the MODULE(S2) materials

Mathematics Teacher Education-Partnership Conference, June 2020

Presenters: Sally Ahrens and Lindsay Czap

Utilizing Student Work Artifacts to Develop both Subject Matter and Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Mathematics Teacher Education-Partnership Conference, June 2020

Presenters: Andrew Ross and Stephanie Casey

Workshop: Engaging Statistics Teachers through Connections to the Teaching of School Statistics and Educational Equity Issues

Electronic Conference on Teaching Statistics (eCOTS), May 2020

Presenters: Stephanie Casey, Andrew Ross and Melody Wilson

Developing Secondary PSTs’ Equity Literacy in a Statistics Course

MiAMTE Conversations Among Colleagues, March 2020

Presenters: Stephanie Casey, Andrew Ross, and Melody Wilson

Mathematics Instructors’ Attention to Instructional Interactions in Teaching Rehearsals

Indiana Mathematics Education Research Symposium, March 2020

Presenters: Lindsay Czap

Developing Equity Literacy in the Statistical Education of Teachers

Annual AMTE Conference, February 2020

Presenters: Stephanie Casey and Melody Wilson

Comparing the visibility of prospective teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching secondary geometry in written and video format responses

Tennessee STEM Education Conference, January 2020

Presenters: Lindsay Czap and Alyson E. Lischka

Purposeful Use of Simulations of Teaching Practice to Uncover Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching

Joint Mathematics Meeting, January 2020

Presenters: Jeremy F. Strayer, Yvonne Lai, and Cynthia Anhalt

Symposium: Undergraduate Mathematical Modeling Laboratory Experiences

Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Education Conference, July 2019

Organizer: Brynja Kohler

Symposium: Implementing Mathematical Modeling with Prospective Elementary Teachers

Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Education Conference, July 2019

Presenters and Organizers: Will Tidwell, Cynthia Anhalt, and Ricardo Cortez

Symposium: Mathematical Modeling Lessons and Research for Secondary Educators

Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Education Conference, July 2019

Presenters and Organizers: Cynthia Anhalt and Ricardo Cortez

Preparing Teachers to Educate Through Mathematics for Social Justice

School Science and Mathematics Association Convention, November 2019

Presenters: Patrick Seegmiller and Will Tidwell

Symposium: Undergraduate Mathematical Modeling Laboratory Experiences

Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Education Conference, July 2019

Organizer: Brynja Kohler

Teachers’ understanding of the connection between congruence and transformations

41st Annual Meeting of the PME-NA, November 2019

Presenters: Julia St. Goar, Yvonne Lai, Rachel Funk

Comparing secondary teachers’ MKT for geometry in video and written representations of practice.

41st Annual Meeting of the PME-NA, November 2019

Presenters: Alyson E. Lischka, Yvonne Lai, Jeremy F. Strayer, Lindsay Czap

Developing mathematical and statistical knowledge for teaching – Let’s see it happen!

NCTM Regional Conference and Exposition, October 2019

Presenters: Jeremy F. Strayer, James Haynes, and Alyson E. Lischka

Statistical Education of Teachers: Novel Curriculum Materials

AMTE Webinar, October 2019

Presenters: Stephanie Casey

Pain Medication and Tree Leaves: Mathematical Modeling Tasks for Future Secondary Teachers

MathFest, July 2019

Presenters: Brynja Kohler, Jacy Beck, Ricardo Cortez

Development of Equity Literacy in the MODULE(S2) Statistics for Secondary Teachers Course

Mathematics Teacher Education-Partnership Conference, June 2019

Presenters: Melody Wilson

Mathematical Modeling Lesson Adaptation for Increasing Local Relevance

Mathematics Teacher Education-Partnership Conference, June 2019

Presenters: Will Tidwell and Brynja Kohler

Learning to Teach Statistics for Social Justice

Mathematics Teacher Education-Partnership Conference, June 2019

Presenters: Andrew Ross, Stephanie Casey, Melody Wilson, and Samantha Maddox

Examining Education Stereotypes and Promoting Community-Related Projects in Mathematics Teacher Education

Mathematics Teacher Education-Partnership Conference, June 2019

Presenters: Patrick Seegmiller and Brynja Kohler

Comparing secondary teachers’ MKT for geometry exposed in video and written representations of practice

Mathematics Teacher Education-Partnership Conference, June 2019

Presenters: Alyson E. Lischka, Yvonne Lai, Jeremy F. Strayer

Preparing Teachers to Help Secondary Students Evaluate Evidence

U.S. Conference on Teaching Statistics (USCOTS), May 2019

Presenters: Andrew Ross, Stephanie Casey, Melody Wilson, and Samantha Maddox

A Statistics-for-Future-Teachers Course

Michigan Mathematics Association of American Section Meeting, April 2019

Presenters: Andrew Ross, Stephanie Casey, Melody Wilson, and Samantha Maddox

Eliciting and examining mathematical knowledge for teaching: A framework to support teacher growth.

Annual Conference of the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics, April 2019

Presenters: Alyson E. Lischka, Cynthia Anhalt, Yvonne Lai, Jeremy Strayer

Developing prospective secondary teachers’ MKT through approximations of practice

Annual AMTE Conference, February 2019

Presenters: Alyson E. Lischka, Yvonne Lai, Jeremy F. Strayer, Cynthia Anhalt

Analyzing the Development of MKT in Content Courses

40th Annual Meeting of the PME-NA, November 2018

Presenters: Yvonne Lai, Jeremy F. Strayer, Alyson E. Lischka

Developing Secondary Preservice Mathematics Teachers’ Statistical Knowledge for Teaching

International Conference on Teaching Statistics, July 2018

Presenters: Stephanie Casey, Andrew Ross, and Samantha Maddox

Mathematical Modeling in Secondary Teacher Preparation

Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) Education Conference, July 2018

Presenters: Cynthia Anhalt

An Emerging Framework for Understanding the Development of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching.

Mathematics Teacher Education-Partnership Conference, June 2018

Presenters: Jeremy Strayer, Yvonne Lai, Alyson Lischka, Cynthia Anhalt

Addressing Social Justice and Equity in the Statistical Education of Teachers through Statistics Activities

Mathematics Teacher Education-Partnership Conference, June 24-26, 2018

Presenters: Andrew Ross, Stephanie Casey, Melody Wilson, and Samantha Maddox

MODULE(S2) Project: Curriculum for Upper-Level Content Courses for Pre-Service Secondary Teachers

Michigan Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, March 17, 2018

Presenters: Andrew Ross and Stephanie Casey

Developing Preservice Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ (PSMTs’) Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) in Content Courses

Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, February 22-24, 2018

Presenters: Jeremy F. Strayer, Alyson E. Lischka, Candice Quinn, Lucy Watson

Toward a Hypothetical Learning Trajectory (HLT) for Preservice Secondary Teachers’ Construction of Congruence Proofs

Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, February 22-24, 2018

Presenters: Yvonne Lai, Rachel Zigterman

MODULE(S2): Mathematics of Doing, Understanding, Learning and Educating for Secondary Schools

12th Annual Tennessee STEM Education Research Conference, February 2018

Presenters: Jeremy F. Strayer, Alyson E. Lischka, Candice Quinn, Lucky Watson

MODULE(S2) Project: Developing Prospective Secondary Mathematics Teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in College Geometry

Joint Mathematics Meetings, January 2018

Presenter: Alyson E. Lischka

MODULE(S2): Mathematics of Doing, Understanding, Learning and Educating for Secondary Schools (Poster)

Joint Mathematics Meetings, January 2018

Presenters: Alyson E. Lischka, Andrew Ross, Yvonne Lai, Brynja Kohler, Jason Aubrey, Jeremy F. Strayer, Stephanie Casey, Cynthia Anhalt, Howard Gobstein

Building Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching in a Geometry Course for Preservice Teachers

39th Annual Meeting of the PME-NA, October 5-8, 2017