Research topics: mathematical thinking
Investigating how people understand mathematics
Mathematics is the language of science, engineering, technology, finance, and many other professions and institutions. For these reasons, investigating how people understand mathematics, how to identify individuals who are exceptional or at-risk for difficulties, and how best to teach mathematics are critical questions for our researchers. We address these questions from a variety of perspectives in research projects spanning from the laboratory to the classroom to online contexts.
Faculty and staff
William Bart
Dr. Bart (psychological foundations of education) investigates the cognitive and educational effects of origami training, a form of school-based instruction commonplace in Israel and East Asian countries such as Japan and Korea. Origami training facilitates understanding of key mathematical concepts in geometry such as shape congruence.
Jeffrey Byejbye@umn.edu
Dr. Bye researches cognitive science, learning science, and educational psychology approaches to understanding how people learn and think about math, data, and programming.
Geoffrey Maruyama
Dr. Maruyama (psychological foundations of education) examines whether or not standards-based grades in mathematics might provide better measures of college readiness than do traditional grades and standardized tests.
Andrew Zieffler
Dr. Zieffler (quantitative methods in education) is a statistics education researcher investigating how students understand statistical concepts such as sampling variability and the logic of statistical inference. He is also developing innovative curricula for teaching statistics to college students from a modern, simulation-oriented perspective, as well as assessments for measuring students’ statistical reasoning and understanding.
Courses
EPSY 8271 – Statistics Education Research Seminar: Studies on Teaching and Learning Statistics
In this course, students review classic and current research related to the teaching and learning of statistics from the psychology, education, and statistics education literature. Each semester, the course focuses on a particular topic and set of related research questions (e.g., statistical thinking).
EPSY 8600 – Special Topics: Special Education Issues
In this course, current trends (e.g., school wide discipline, models of collaboration, and diversity) are investigated by formulating research projects. Students write a media piece describing an issue and its impact on the community.
EPSY 8816 - Academic Prevention and Intervention
Theories, research, and practice underlying instructional/academic interventions for students. Systems consultation, organizational change.
EPSY 8815 - Behavioral and Social Emotional Prevention and Intervention
Theories, research, and practice underlying socio-emotional interventions for students. Systems consultation/organizational change.