Teaching

My teaching interests are in the areas of curriculum, instruction and assessment in mathematics education, and the intersection between state and national education policies and mathematics reform. I teach courses designed to prepare mathematics teachers for secondary school classrooms. As a former middle and high school mathematics teacher in Southern California in the early 1990s, I had the opportunity to experience first-hand the challenge of interpreting and applying national and state policies designed reform mathematics education. In the courses I teach, therefore, I seek to create opportunities in which teachers and graduate students can critically examine their beliefs about mathematics as a discipline as well as related conceptions regarding the teaching and learning of mathematics. The courses I typically teach include the following:

Courses frequently taught:
EDUC 5375: Materials and Methods in Secondary Mathematics
This course is designed for students who are planning to obtain teacher licensure to teach mathematics at the middle and/or secondary school level in Colorado and practicing mathematics teachers pursuing a graduate degree at CU-Boulder who are interested in contemporary methods for teaching mathematics. The purpose of this course is to promote the skills, habits, and knowledge of effective teaching, learning, and assessment. This will be accomplished through examination of readings, instructional materials, and instruction. In this course, we will revisit and explore the mathematics of middle and high school curricula and examine the mathematics in these materials from a pedagogical point of view. Students will utilize the methods and strategies under investigation by applying them in actual classroom settings, through current classroom assignments (practicum or current professional experiences).

EDUC 6804: Nature of Mathematics and Mathematics Education
This graduate course explores mathematics from both philosophical and practical points of view. Using a survey of philosophical perspectives about mathematics as a backdrop (What is mathematics? Is it a human creation, or universal truth? Is it fallible?), the second part of the course turns toward contemporary issues in debates about mathematics teaching and learning and addresses topics such as: school mathematics and reform-based initiatives, proposals and methods for improving equity and student access to mathematics, and the design of mathematics curriculum and assessment in grades K to 12. The structure of this class should offer practicing teachers and graduate students an opportunity to examine and deepen their content knowledge and reflect on how they communicate mathematics to students through their classroom practices. Therefore, one of the underlying goals of the course is to motivate reflection on current classroom practices and support further exploration of ways educators might apply new knowledge to ensure, enrich, and extend future students’ learning and experience of mathematics.