[request a revision or addition for this page or section]

Department of

 

Curriculum & Instruction

[What we are]       [How to Apply]       [Who we are: Faculty]      [What we do]     [Who we are: Students]

 

Ph.D. in Curriculum Studies with Emphasis in Mathematics Education 

 

Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education (COE) offers an emphasis in Mathematics Education as part of its Ph.D. program in Curriculum Studies.

• The emphasis includes 5 courses or 20 semester hours devoted to concepts and issues related to mathematics education (see courses listed below).

• Participants in this doctoral program pursue research questions related to the teaching and learning of mathematics, K-16, and indirectly, may pursue questions related to the nature of mathematics itself as a discipline. The focus on instruction and learning makes this program different from a program found in a mathematics department where the focus is more on content questions.

• Although this program focuses on phenomena related to teaching and learning, participants still are expected to have and/or to develop a strong background in mathematics. Program participants may be advised to take courses in mathematics to ensure a strong background in content.

• The emphasis in Mathematics Education intends to prepare leaders in the field, leaders who will assume positions as faculty in colleges of education, curriculum directors, teacher educators, or any other position that leads to the improvement of mathematics education, especially for underrepresented students in urban contexts.
  

 

What we are

 

Our program emphasis is unique in the field of mathematics education and in the country:

• It reflects a strong commitment to improving the educational status of multicultural, multilingual urban students and their communities and to connecting theory with practice for that purpose.

• Our courses and our research orientation in Mathematics Education are grounded in sociocultural and sociopolitical approaches to mathematical knowledge, teaching, and learning with an emphasis on equity and social justice.

• Faculty are nationally recognized for their work, take an activist approach to addressing the social, cultural, political, and historical contexts which affect education and mathematics in particular; they are active in school reform, professional development, creating models of new ways of teaching and learning mathematics, and developing regional and national policies that support innovations in mathematics curriculum and instruction.

• Our work is rooted in making mathematics accessible to everyone, in ensuring the teaching and learning of mathematics is no longer a barrier to students of color, nor a means for privileging others.

• Mathematics, for us, serves to improve society.

 

What is the emphasis and how to apply

 

Applications for the doctoral emphasis in Mathematics Education are due January 1 of any year, and can be gotten from the Office of Student Services, College of Education. Applicants should mark Curriculum Studies on the application form and note an interest in Mathematics Education.

In addition to the core Ph.D. courses that all students in Curriculum Studies take, doctoral candidates in Mathematics Education take five courses that form the area of specialization (or emphasis).

• Research Paradigms in Mathematics Education and Policies
• Sociocultural Theory in Mathematics Education
• The K-12 Mathematics Curriculum: Theory, Politics, & Practice
• Research on Student Learning in the Content Areas of Mathematics
• Research on Teaching and Teachers in Mathematics Education 

Additional elective courses include:  “Sociopolitical Context of Mathematics Education,” and “Teaching for Social Justice” and "Social Construction(s) of Race, Identity, and Mathematics Literacy" and "Mathematical Cognition".  

 

Who we are: Faculty

The faculty in Mathematics Education include:

Dr. Danny Martin (dbmartin@uic.edu):

• Mathematics education for African American learners
• Race and identity
• Mathematics education policy
• Community college mathematics teaching

Dr. Lena Licon Khisty (llkhisty@uic.edu):

• Mathematics teaching and learning with Latina/o students
• Critical pedagogy, classroom discourse and interactions
• Teacher inquiry/action research for professional development

Dr. Eric (Rico) Gutstein (gutstein@uic.edu):

• Teaching mathematics for social justice
• Culturally relevant mathematics teaching
• Freirean approaches to teaching/learning in urban contexts
• Mathematics education policy         

 Dr. Dan Miltner (dmiltner@uic.edu)

• Mathematics content courses for elementary teachers
• Multiple solution methods to mathematics problems
• Professional development for practicing teachers
• Supervision of secondary mathematics teachers

 

What we do

Faculty in mathematics education at UIC are actively involved in reform. They:

• Work closely with Chicago public schools (k-16), students, families, and communities;
• Conduct research with activist orientations for social change that benefits students of color and low-income students;
• Provide professional development in the context of transforming the educational experiences of Chicago public school teachers and students;
• Provide expertise at the local and national level to affect policy;
• Participate in National and International working groups to help set policy and research directions in mathematics education. 

Faculty in mathematics education are actively involved in developing future leaders in mathematics education. They:

• Teach preservice and graduate courses in mathematics education;
• Supervise graduate student research and doctoral dissertations. 

Therefore, doctoral students in the Mathematics Education emphasis will have opportunities to participate in a wide variety of professional growth activities. For further information or to schedule a personal interview/discussion with the faculty, contact us via email or phone at 312-996-4508 (Curriculum and Instruction Office). 

  

Who we are: Students

Craig serves a s a Research Assistant for the Center for Mathematics Education of Latinas/os (CEMELA). His research focus es on all a spects of mathematics learning for Latinas/os. More specifically, he has explored the mathematical experiences of Mexican immigrant parents and how these parents support their children's mathematics learning, the role of teachers in mathematics classrooms with bilingual students, and the macro, sociopolitical structures that perpetuate differentiated mathematics learning. Craig completed his undergraduate work at Butler University (Indianapolis) and taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade math in Denver Public Schools' Bilingual Education program for four years before joining CEMELA.

 

Alex was a CPS high school mathematics and English teacher for 14 years. He is now a Research Fellow for the Center for Mathematics Education for Latina/os (CEMELA), a National Science Foundation Center for Learning and Teaching. His studies and interests focus on the intersections between mathematics teaching and learning, language, and culture.

 

Carlos is interested in students’ academic and social development in mathematics, specifically of bilingual students traditionally considered at risk or with learning disabilities. He focuses on how tools, means, and interactions available to students in different settings and activities mediate their learning and participation. His major concern is about equitable education for students of color, on issues regarding their positioning, agency, and identity during classroom interactions, as well as their possible connection to hegemonic ideological systems manifested through exclusionary practices and the marginalization of diverse students. Carlos is a doctoral student in the special education program at UIC and currently holds a research assistant position in the Center for the Mathematics Education of Latinos/as, CEMELA. He is Guatemalan and received his BA in Educational Psychology at the University “Rafael Landívar,” in Guatemala City, and obtained his MEd in Special Education at UIC.

 

Anita is currently working on understanding the interconnection between learning mathematics and learning to read and write the world, as described by Freire. Her research focuses on a) exploring classroom interactions that facilitate and support students' learning to think, act, and participate mathematically and sociopolitically, and b) the role of the teacher in helping and supporting student's (growth) in these two dimensions - mathematical and sociopolitical.

 

Della's research interests center on the lives of mathematics teachers in urban schools.  She wonders about the constellations of identities of resilient teachers who inspire children to find ways to see themselves as powerful mathematics learners within racialized school contexts.  Following a twenty-year career in the technology industries, Della taught mathematics and computer science in Chicago at the high school and community college levels.  Her son is a recent graduate of the Chicago Public Schools where he attended Kindergarten through 12th grades.  Della currently serves as a community member on her Local School Council.

 

Anita is interested in mathematics education of African American students in urban environments. Specifically, how teacher beliefs about student abilities impact student achievement. She would like to explore the curricular and instructional experiences of students who excel in these environments. Additionally, Anita wish to explore the types of outside factors  that influence the academic achievement of African American students in urban environments.

 

 

Ebony completed a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (January '09), with a concentration in Mathematics Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago under the direction of Dr. Danny Martin, Associate Professor and Department Chair. Ebony's research and teaching opportunities have allowed her to contribute to an emerging literature in mathematics and engineering education that is moving the field beyond explanations that normalize Black student failure. As a former electrical engineer and current mathematics education and African American studies lecturer, Ebony is concerned with how Blacks are being constructed and represented in these fields. Ebony's teaching and research interests are: mathematics and engineering curriculum and instruction designed for urban students, educational psychology as it is applied to Black learners, Black identity and identity development, psychology (resiliency in particular) of Black students, mixed methods, and counter-storytelling analysis.   

 

Gabriel has a Master's Degree from UIC in Curriculum and Instruction. He has a background in Mathematics Education and has taught mathematics and science for ten years at the middle school level. He is currently a doctoral student in Curriculum Studies at UIC. His research interests are in lesson study as a means to facilitate mathematics teachers' professional growth in teaching ELL's. His interests also include work with CEMELA (Center for the Mathematics Education of Latinos/as) and its after-school mathematics club (for 3rd-5th grade students) that includes a research focus on the role of language and everyday mathematics practices in mathematics learning.