College of Education and Human Development

Department of Curriculum and Instruction

Erin Baldinger

  • Pronouns: she, her, hers

  • Associate Professor

Erin Baldinger

Areas of interest

Mathematics teacher preparation; mathematical knowledge for teaching; practice-based teacher education

Degrees

PhD, Stanford University, mathematics education
BA, Tufts University, mathematics

Biography

My research agenda centers on the preparation of secondary mathematics teachers. I focus on two primary lines of inquiry: (1) novice teacher development of mathematical knowledge for teaching; and (2) supporting novice teachers to learn high-leverage instructional practices. These areas of interest have emerged from my experiences as a middle school math teacher and as a mathematics teacher educator.

Helping pre-service teachers develop content knowledge for teaching is a particularly salient issue in math, as teachers often enter the field either without a deep understanding of mathematics, or with a lack of familiarity around how advanced mathematical topics connect to the content of the school curriculum. I am currently investigating ways in which college level mathematics content classes can play a role in the preparation of secondary mathematics teachers. I focus in particular on how such courses might be tailored to bridge the gap between high school and college mathematics. In addition to researching teachers’ content preparation and their engagement in mathematical practices, I also study their development of pedagogical content knowledge.

Another issue facing the field of teacher education is how novices are prepared for professional practice. I draw on research around practice-based teacher education to consider strategies for supporting pre-service teachers to learn high-leverage instructional practices, such as leading whole class discussions, eliciting and interpreting student thinking, or giving an instructional explanation. I investigate the ways in which in-class, coached rehearsals of practices like leading discussion can support novice teacher learning. In collaboration with colleagues across universities, I have worked to develop instructional activities that are appropriate for secondary mathematics classrooms and that can help bound the complex nature of leading discussions. This work influences my teaching of pre-service mathematics teachers, just as my teaching continually influences the direction of my research.

What can students expect from me?

My research centers on the preparation of secondary mathematics teachers. These areas of interest have emerged from my experiences as a middle school math teacher and as a mathematics teacher educator.

I view teaching as complex and improvisational work, and learning to teach requires learning to make nuanced and context-dependent decisions in non-routine spaces. Practice-based teacher education is envisioned by many scholars as a critical mechanism for learning to teach in adaptive ways. My research in practice-based teacher education focuses on approximations of practice, such as coached rehearsals and scripting tasks, as strategies for supporting teachers to learn core practices such as responding to errors and leading mathematics discussions. I draw on socio-cultural learning theories to guide my research with pre-service and in-service teachers.

In addition to learning the practices of mathematics teaching, I also study the development of mathematical knowledge for teaching among secondary teachers. A historical problem within mathematics education is the discontinuity teachers sometimes feel between secondary and tertiary mathematics. My research addresses the challenge of connecting advanced and secondary mathematics by investigating teachers' development of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge as part of their mathematical preparation for teaching. I have used the lens of authority relations to unpack this discontinuity and theorize about how to strengthen the bridge between secondary and tertiary mathematics.

Associations and Memberships

  • American Educational Research Association (AERA)
  • Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE)National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
  • Psychology of Mathematics Education, North America Chapter (PME-NA)

Courses Taught

  • CI 8132: Curriculum and Instruction
  • Core: Teaching Theory and Research
  • CI 8572: Learning Theory and Classical Research in STEM Education
  • MTHE 3102: Mathematics and Pedagogy for Elementary Teachers II
  • MTHE 5021: Algebraic Structures in School Mathematics
  • MTHE 5031: Geometric Structures in School Mathematics
  • MTHE 5314: Teaching and Learning Mathematics
  • MTHE 8571: Current Research in Mathematics Education 
Publications

Baldinger, E. E. (2018). Learning mathematical practices to connect abstract algebra to high school algebra. In N. H. Wasserman (Ed.), Connecting Abstract Algebra to Secondary Mathematics, for Secondary Mathematics Teachers(pp. 211–239). New York: Springer International Publishing. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99214-3_11

Baldinger, E. E. (2020). Reasoning about student written work through self-comparison: How pre-service secondary teachers use their own solutions to analyze student work. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 22(1), 56-78. https://doi.org/10.1080/10986065.2019.1624930

Baldinger, E. E., Campbell, M. P., & Graif, F. G (2021). Learning to respond to students in discussions: Examining the use of planted errors in an approximation of practice. Journal of Teacher Education, 72(5), 523–537. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487120977148

Baldinger, E. E., Campbell, M. P., & Graif, F. (accepted October 2018). Sorting out definitions. Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PreK-12(formerly Mathematics Teacher).

Baldinger, E. E., Lai, Y. (accepted March 2019). Pedagogical context and proof validation: The role of positioning as a teacher or student. Journal of Mathematical Behavior

Baldinger, E. E., Selling, S. K., & Virmani, R. (2016). Supporting novice teachers to lead discussions that reach a mathematical point: Defining and clarifying mathematical ideas. Mathematics Teacher Educator, 5(1), 8–28. http://doi.org/10.5951/mathteaceduc.5.1.0008

Baldinger, E. E., & Campbell, M. P. (2021). Making learning visible: Cases of teacher candidates learning to respond to errors through multiple approximations of practice. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, 23(4), 119–142.

Baldinger, E. E., & Humphreys, C. (2018). Number talks: Gateway to sense making. Mathematics Teacher, 112(1), 48–54. https://www.nctm.org/Publications/Mathematics-Teacher/2018/Vol112/Issue1/Number-Talks_-Gateway-to-Sense-Making/

Baldinger, E. E., & Lai, Y. (2019). Pedagogical context and proof validation: The role of positioning as a teacher or student. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 55(April), 100698. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2019.03.

Baldinger, E. E., & Munson, J. (2020). Developing adaptive expertise in the wake of rehearsals: An emergent model of the debrief discussions of non-rehearsing teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 95, 103125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103125

Campbell, M. P., & Baldinger, E. E. (2022). Using scripting tasks to reveal mathematics teacher candidates’ resources for responding to student errors. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 25, 507–531. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-021-09505-4

Lai, Y., & Baldinger, E. E. (2021). Authority relations and the tertiary-to-secondary (dis)continuity. For the Learning of Mathematics, 41(2), 26–31.

Munson, J., & Baldinger, E. E. (2023). What pedagogy feels like: Teachers’ development of pedagogical empathy in rehearsal debriefs. Journal of the Learning Sciences.

Murray, E., & Baldinger, E. E. (2018). Impact of abstract algebra on teachers’ understanding of and approaches to instruction in solving equations. In N. H. Wasserman (Ed.), Connecting Abstract Algebra to Secondary Mathematics, for Secondary Mathematics Teachers(pp. 403–429). New York: Springer International Publishing. http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99214-3_19

Presentations

Selling, S. K., & Baldinger, E. E. (April 2017). Supporting novice teachers to reason about telling: Leveraging problems of practice in rehearsals of discussions. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX.

Sun, K. L., Baldinger, E. E., Id-Deen, L., & Waller, P. (April 2017). Beyond “Mickey Mouse math”: Access and equity in secondary methods courses. Session presented at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Research Conference, San Antonio, TX.

Campbell, M., Baldinger, E. E., & Selling, S. K. (February 2017). Investigating pedagogies of practice that support novices’ responding to student errors during classroom discussion. Session presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, Orlando, FL.

Baldinger, E. E., Murray, E., White, D., Broderick, S., & Wasserman, N. (November 2016). Exploring connections between advanced and secondary mathematics. Working group presented at the annual meeting of the Psychology of Mathematics Education, North America Chapter, Tucson, AZ.

Baldinger, E. E. (April 2016). Assessment and evaluation: Pre-service secondary mathematics teacher evaluation of student written work.  Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Washington, DC.