ResearchCrossroads

Summary
This CAREER project would follow the teacher preparation efforts of five community colleges in Mississippi. The investigator will examine the policy of institutions, the classroom and teacher educator, and the learner's development from student to teacher. The intent is to develop better knowledge of how teachers develop mathematics ability and understanding by conducting a longitudinal study of a cohort of pre-service teachers through various programs. The study is intended to explicate what mathematics educations think is important for students, how students are learning mathematics content and pedagogy, and what ways to faculty develop across institutions as they collaborate in defining goals, course content, and classroom practice. The study will monitor 375 student teachers through their early courses in 4 community colleges and the University of Southern Mississippi. The career goals of the young investigator are three: To make a significant local contribution to mathematics education in the State of Mississippi and guide her own practice and pursuit of inspiring future teachers to critically analyze the way they think about mathematics. To conduct research studies which contribute to national conversation about teacher preparation and the importance of mathematics reasoning. The researcher expects to help define and describe what teacher preparation should look like. Finally, the researcher intends to contribute to a state that is poor in wealth and human resources to help improve the system of mathematics education. Her publications address both the practice of preparing teachers in classrooms and the policies of institutions that provide that guidance.

Principal Investigator	Julie Cwikla
Co-Principal Investigator(s)
Recipient Organization	University of Southern Mississippi
Granting Organization	Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL - NSF)

Reference	Dates	Fiscal Year	Funded Amount
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