A growing number of projects, many funded by the National Science Foundation, are combining research in mathematics education with various psychometric models. Reports from these projects have advanced the field, but they have also raised fundamental questions about how to use psychometric models for measuring mathematical knowledge. This conference will provide opportunities to learn about psychometric models, examine opportunities and challenges of applying these models to mathematics education research, and to network across disciplines.

Does it Work?: Building Methods for Understanding Effects of Professional Development Does it Work?: Building Methods for Understanding Effects of Professional Development (DiW) is an NSF-funded project developing methods for studying relationships among teacher learning, teaching practice, and student achievement. At the heart of the project is a 40-hour professional development course focused on using drawn [...]

Achievements and Challenges of Modeling-based Instruction (ACMI) in Science Education: from 1980 to 2009 Ji Shen, Principal Investigator This is a two-year Synthesis Project that aims to provide a comprehensive review of the research and practices for modeling-based instruction (MBI) in K-12 science education. The project will synthesize existing literature on MBI in K-12 science [...]

This project, Designing Transformative Assessments for Interdisciplinary Learning in Science (DeTAILS), aims to design and implement technology-enhanced formative assessments to help college students integrate scientific knowledge and solve complex problems across disciplines.

This five-year partnership project among scientists and science educators at the University of Georgia, science teachers in high schools, and the BSCS organization is creating and rigorously evaluating curricular materials that utilize highly interactive 3-D models and animations of physiological processes.

Jessica Bishop (Co-PI) Have you ever wondered why 6 – -2 = 6 + +2? Is there any such number as negative zero? What percentage of second graders do you think could solve 3 – 5 = c, and how might they solve that problem? Dr. Jessica Bishop, a UGA mathematics educator, and her colleagues [...]

Jessica Bishop (PI) Characterizing Critical Aspects of Mathematics Classroom Discourse is a 5-year grant funded by the National Science Foundation in the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program. This research is based on the premise that the discourse occurring in mathematics classrooms plays a significant role in students’ learning. In this project we will describe [...]

Georgia Hodges, Principal Investigator Cell function is a fundamental biological concept that students often struggle to master. Using a combination of 3-D models and animations, a group of researchers, educators, and digital artists at the University of Georgia have published the iBook “Cell Signaling: An Introduction” to help students understand the dynamic molecular world of [...]

CPTM , the Center for Proficiency in Teaching Mathematics, aims to strengthen the system of professional education that supports teachers of mathematics throughout their careers.  It is a National Science Foundation-funded Center for Learning and Teaching involving the University of Georgia and the University of Michigan. Working with teacher educators from 2- and 4-year higher education [...]

Diagnosing Teachers’ Multiplicative Reasoning (DTMR) is an NSF-funded project investigating how tests may be built that are suitable for use with large samples of teachers and that provide information about teachers’ capacities to support students’ thinking. In particular, we are developing and evaluating a test form that diagnoses middle grades teachers’ multiplicative reasoning in the context of fractions, decimals, and ratios. The test emphasizes knowledge needed to use problem situations and drawn models for developing arithmetic with rational numbers and proportional reasoning.