Wendy Rose Aaron
2405 School of Education / 426 Waymarket Drive610 East University Avenue / Ann Arbor, MI 48103
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1259 / Phone: (734) 355-4144
Phone: (734) 615-1270 / email:
Education
2011 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; PhD in Mathematics Education
Dissertation: The Position of the Student in Geometry Instruction: A Study from Three Perspectives
Chair: Patricio G. Herbst
2004 University of California, Los Angeles; MA in Mathematics
2001 University of California, Santa Cruz; BA in Mathematics
Professional Experience
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
University of Michigan, January 2011-pressent
I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow on a NSF-funded research project, Geometry Reasoning and Instructional Practices (GRIP), which studies secondary mathematics instruction and mathematics teacher reasoning. My responsibilities include:
· Designing online professional development modules aimed at helping secondary mathematics teachers understand the practice standards included in the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics;
· Designing, testing, revising, and administering online instruments aimed at measuring secondary mathematics teachers’ adherence to instructional norms and their level of mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT). These measures include novel instruments that employ storyboards of instructional scenarios;
· Writing grants to explore the usefulness of features of online teacher education tools;
· Scripting and directing animations of instructional scenarios. This includes working with theoretically grounded hypotheses of instructional scenarios to create scripts of classroom interaction, producing lines of dialogue that represent believable teacher and student talk, directing voice actors playing the role of teachers and students, and directing animators creating visual representations of classroom interaction;
· Planning and facilitating study groups with experienced high school geometry teachers around animated instructional scenarios;
· Conducting linguistic analysis (using tools from Systemic Functional Linguistics) of study group conversations around animated instructional scenarios;
· Analyzing teacher learning over the course of two years of study groups hosted by GRIP;
· Chairing the program committee for a conference aimed a building a community of mathematics education researchers around the use of representations of mathematics teaching. This included creating the agenda for the conference, recruiting plenary speakers, and overseeing the organization of the conference;
· Conducting a study exploring the affordances and drawbacks of the use of animations of instructional scenarios versus video of classroom scenarios in teacher education. This involved designing the interview protocol to be used with prospective secondary mathematics teachers, interviewing participants, designing a coding rubric, and analyzing the interview data;
· Presenting research reports at national and international conferences; and
· Mentoring and overseeing the work of graduate students.
I also work for the instructional materials development project, Teaching Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (TMKT). TMKT develops instructional materials, which support mathematicians in teaching mathematics content courses for prospective teachers while simultaneously introducing mathematics faculty to the ideas of mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT). My responsibilities include:
· Contacting mathematicians who use the materials and gathering information about the experience of using the materials;
· Revising instructional materials based on the feedback from mathematicians who have used the materials;
· Conceptualizing and writing about the role of collective work among instructors in the effective implementation of the materials.
Finally, I consult for the project Teaching Mathematics in the Community College (TMCC). TMCC is aimed at understanding the teaching a learning of mathematics in community colleges. My responsibilities include:
· Scripting and directing animated instructional scenarios in a community college classroom;
· Consulting on the design of study groups with community college instructors around animated instructional scenarios;
· Facilitating study group sessions with community college trigonometry instructors;
· Conceptualizing and writing about the work of facilitating productive conversations for the parallel purposes of research and professional development.
Research Assistant
University of Michigan, July 2004-January 2011
Over the course of my graduate study, I worked as a research assistant on the Geometry Reasoning and Instructional Practices (GRIP) project. I was responsible for:
· Developing animated representations of instructional scenarios. This involved contributing to the design of character sets and scripting instructional scenarios that are responsive to research hypotheses;
· Planning and facilitating study group sessions around animated instructional scenarios which engaged secondary geometry teachers in mathematical and pedagogical discussions while advancing a parallel research agenda;
· Assisting with the collection of data from study groups around animated instructional scenarios, including recruiting participants, capturing the sessions on video, and archiving data;
· Using tools from Systemic Functional Linguistics to find support for instructional norms in study group conversations;
· Collaborating on a geometry course for high school students attending a summer camp;
· Submitting IRB applications for sub-studies within the larger research group;
· Planning and facilitating individual interviews and focus groups with high school and middle school students around animated instructional scenarios;
· Presenting research reports at national and international conferences.
Mathematics Tutor
Teacher Next Door Tutors, Los Angeles, Ca, Summer 2001-Summer 2002
I tutored students in grades 3 through 12 in all areas of mathematics, from fractions to calculus. I supported students in developing both conceptual understanding and procedural fluency as well as helped them develop study skills and organizational habits.
Publications
Aaron, W., & Herbst, P. (2012). Instructional identities of geometry students. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 31, 382-400.
Aaron, W., & Herbst, P. (in press). Teachers’ and students’ perceptions of classroom discussions. To be published in the Proceedings of the 34nd annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Kalamazoo, MI.
Herbst, P., Aaron, W., Bieda, K., González, G., & Chazan, D. (2011). Representations of mathematics teaching and their use in transforming teacher education: Contributions to a pedagogical framework. Discussion document for the working group “representations of mathematics teaching.” Proceedings of the 33nd annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Reno, NV.
Aaron, W., & Herbst, P. (2011). An exploration of “studenting” in high school geometry classrooms. Proceedings of the 33nd annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Reno, NV.
Aaron, W., & Herbst, P. (2010). Virtual others: One learner’s mathematical arguments in response to an animated episode of geometry instruction. In P. Brosnan, D. B. Erchick, & L. Flevares (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33nd annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. (pp. 869-874). Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University.
Aaron, W. (2008). Academic identities of geometry students. In O. Figueras, J.L. Cortina, S. Alatorre, T. Rojano & A. Sepúlveda (Eds.), Proceedings of the joint meeting of PME 32 and PME-NA XXX (Vol. 1, pp. 1-8). Mexico: Cinvestav-UMSNH.
Aaron, W., & Herbst, P. (in preparation). Differences in instructional perceptions: The case of high school geometry students and teachers.
Aaron, W., & Herbst, P. (in preparation). The distinction between exploration and proof in high school geometry classrooms.
Aaron, W., & Herbst, P. (in preparation). High school geometry teachers’ perceptions of their students.
Aaron, W., Herbst, P., & González, G. (in preparation). Teacher learning in study groups around animated representations of instruction.
Aaron, W., Erickson, A., & Herbst, P. (in preparation). Prospective secondary teachers’ responses to animated and video representations of instruction.
Aaron, W., Lai, Y., & Bass, H. (in preparation). The role of collective work in undergraduate teaching of mathematical knowledge for teaching to future elementary teachers.
Aaron, W., Mesa, V., & Herbst, P. (in preparation). Challenges and tools in the facilitation of combined professional development and research sessions: The case of community college trigonometry instructors.
Presentations
Aaron, W., & Herbst, P. (forthcoming). Teachers’ and students’ perceptions of classroom discussions. To be presented at the annual meeting of PME-NA, Kalamazoo, MI.
Crespo, S., Aaron, W., Herbst, P., & Moore-Russo, D. (2012, February). Designing practice-based math teacher education using virtual and interactive technologies. Presented at the annual meeting of AMTE, Fort Worth, TX.
Aaron, W., Lai, Y., & Bass, H. (2012, January). Supporting mathematicians teaching teachers
mathematics for K-12 teaching. Presented at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, Boston, MA.
Aaron, W., & Herbst, P. (2011, October). An exploration of “studenting” in high school geometry classrooms. Paper presented at the annual meeting of PME-NA, Reno, NV.
Aaron, W., & Chieu, V.M. (2011, March). Lessonsketch: A virtual laboratory for learning to teach through engagement with representations of practice. Presented at Cyberlearning Tools for STEM Education, Berkeley, CA.
Aaron, W., & Herbst, P. (2010, October). Virtual others: One learner’s mathematical arguments in response to an animated episode of geometry instruction. Paper presented at the annual meeting of PME-NA, Columbus, OH.
Herbst, P., Aaron, W., González, G., & Weiss, M. (2009, April). Studying teachers’ rationality using representations of teaching. Paper presented at the NCTM research presession, Washington, DC.
Aaron, W. (2008, July). Academic identities of geometry students. Paper presented at the joint meeting of PME 32 and PME-NA XXX,Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico.
Chen, C., Aaron, W., & Steffen, M.(2008, March).Representing classroom interaction and its mathematical work using ThExpians. Poster session presented at theannualmeetingof AERA,New York, NY.
González, G., Aaron, W., & Macke, M. (2007, October). They want us to teach constructions too! Isn’t that great? Presented at the Michigan Mathematics Education Leadership Conference, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Ball, D., Aaron, W., Bass, H., Sleep, L., & Thames, M. (2007, May). Learning mathematical knowledge for elementary school teaching at the University of Michigan. Presented at the Critical Issues in Education: Teaching Teachers Mathematics workshop, Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, Berkeley, CA.
Aaron, W., & Herbst, P. (2007, April). The use of animated sketches in constructing narratives of geometry teaching. Paper presented at the annual meeting of AERA, Chicago, IL.
Aaron, W. (2007, February). The figured world of the geometry class. Paper presented at the Student Research Conference, Harvard, MA.
Aaron, W., Alibegovic, E., & Chen, C. (2007, January). Thought experiments in mathematics teaching. Presented at the annual meeting of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, Irvine CA.
Herbst, P., Chazan, D., González, G., Weiss, M., Sandow, D., Nachlieli, T., Lueke, M., & Aaron, W. (2006, April). Creating and using representations of instruction to probe hypotheses. Presented at the NCTM research presession, St. Louis, MO.
Aaron, W., & Weiss, M. (2006, March). Mathematics as an active process: What mathematics can be represented through an animation? Presented at the Conversations among Colleagues conference, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Teaching Experience
Educ 511, Representations of Practice
Intern, Winter 2011
This graduate course, taught by Patricio Herbst, explored uses of representations of practice in education and other professional fields. I provided feedback on the syllabus, attended and participated in class sessions, and led class discussions.
Educ 711, Research in Mathematics Education
Intern, Fall 2010
This graduate course, taught by Patricio Herbst, introduced students to the history of research in mathematics education. I provided feedback on the syllabus, attended and participated in class sessions, and led class discussions.
Educ 310, Independent Study: Mathematics for Elementary and Middle School Teachers
Instructor and developer, Spring 2009
This course introduced prospective elementary teachers to skills that would support their work as elementary and middle school mathematics teachers with a focus on producing and delivering mathematical explanations. I developed the content of the course and syllabus, facilitated class discussions, graded students’ work, and met individually with students to provide feedback on their written work.
Educ 307, Secondary Mathematics Education—Practicum 1
Co-instructor, Spring 2009
This course provided prospective secondary teachers with supervision in their field experiences in secondary schools. With colleagues, I planned and facilitated class discussions around issues relevant to students’ field placements. I also observed students in their field placements and provided feedback on their teaching.
Math 385 & 489, Math for Elementary and Middle School Teachers
Graduate Student Instructor, Fall 2006 & Winter 2007
This course introduced prospective elementary teachers to the mathematics content needed for teaching elementary school. I attended lectures, graded students’ homework and quizzes, and met with students individually to answer questions.
Math 485, Mathematics for Elementary Teachers
Instructor, Summer 2006 & Summer 2007
Intern, Summer 2005
This course, taught by Laurie Sleep and Alison Castro-Superfine, introduced prospective elementary teachers to the mathematical content, skills, and practices needed for teaching mathematics in the elementary grades. As an intern, I attended planning and debriefing meetings, attended classes, and assisted with grading. As an instructor, I took at lead role in crafting the syllabus, planning lessons, leading classes, designing grading rubrics, and grading student work.
Educ 411, Teaching Children Mathematics
Intern, Fall 2005 & Fall 2006
This course, taught by Deborah Ball and Laurie Sleep, introduced prospective elementary teachers to the pedagogical skills and practices needed for teaching mathematics in the elementary grades. I attended planning and debriefing meetings and attended classes.
Professional Development Organization
Creating and Using Representations of Mathematics Teaching in Research and Teacher Education: A State of the Art Conference
Program Assistant, August 2009 & June 2010
Program Chair, June 2011
This conference was organized by GRIP to join researchers and teacher educators in thinking about questions related to using representations of teaching in their professional work. As a program assistant, I contributed to the development of the program and conference logistics. As Program Chair, I led the program committee in developing the program, recruiting plenary speakers, and overseeing conference logistics.
Summer Workshop for Teacher Educators
Program Assistant, July 2007 & June 2008
These workshops were organized by GRIP to explore different uses of animated representations of teaching in the context of teacher education. My responsibilities included contributing to the program and assisting with conference logistics.
Summer Academy for Researchers
Program Assistant, July-August 2007