The Mathematical Education Graduate Program at the University of Michigan School of Education

Mathematics education has been a focus of attention around the world over the last few decades. On one hand, scholars, designers, and practitioners have produced exciting new developments in research, curriculum, and assessment. New standards for instruction and curriculum have been developed, and an international discourse community on in mathematics education has grown. On the other hand, mathematics education has been the target of intense criticism and debate among different stakeholders and communities. The need for new scholars and leaders in mathematics education is great. New advances in the field –– in practice and in research –– as well as focused concern make it a particularly good time to earn a graduate degree in mathematics education. Our doctoral program in UM’s School of Education prepares its graduates to be leaders, creative scholars, and teachers in mathematics education. With a concern for the interdisciplinary nature of the significant problems in our field, we create opportunities for our graduate students to learn to work across conventional domains –– mathematics as discipline, the world of schooling, professional education, educational scholarship, and policy.

Mathematics Education: Program Overview

The School of Education offers Mathematics Education degrees at both the Master's and Doctoral levels.

Doctoral degree in Mathematics Education

The doctoral specialization in Mathematics Education prepares scholars to work as researchers, expert practitioners, or policy professionals with a special focus on the teaching and learning of mathematics. In this specialization, mathematics education is considered in its intersections with the nature of mathematics as a discipline; considerations of teaching and teacher learning; the design, implementation and effects of curriculum and instructional interventions and their implementation and effects; contemporary developments in learning theories and technologies; issues of equity and social justice; and the framing and enacting of educational policies.

Doctoral students in mathematics education take a common set of core courses, dealing with curriculum, learning, teaching, and research in mathematics education. They also select electives from other areas, and from programs and departments outside the School of Education. In addition, we engage our students in two practicum experiences, to provide focused opportunities to learn to use what they are learning in the contexts important to work in mathematics education. Our faculty is engaged in a wide variety of projects, both within the School, and nationally and internationally. Hence, myriad opportunities exist for graduate students to gain professional knowledge and skill through their involvement in these projects.

Students in the mathematics education specialization may work on any portion of the span from pre-K through college, and they may focus on mathematics as encountered in or out of school. In an intensive program consisting of coursework, practica, and apprenticeships, students engage in practice and scholarship alongside nationally recognized specialists in their field. Many opportunities are provided for students to work collaboratively with each other and with faculty, but students are encouraged and expected to develop and examine their own research questions and emphases.

This degree specialization is housed within the Educational Studies program, which fosters links among students and faculty in a number of specializations sharing a commitment to the integration of theory and research on teaching, learning, and educational access in P-16 settings.

It is also worth noting that, as a unit within Michigan's Educational Studies Program, the Mathematics Education PhD program is a national partner in the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate, sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of teaching.

Mathematics Education: People

To assist those interested in the various concentrations, here are the names of faculty members, student ambassadors, and recent graduates involved with the Mathematics Education specialization. If you have a general question about the program, or would like to talk to a current student about the program, please visit the Mathematics Education contacts page.

Faculty: To view a faculty member's research interests, click on their name (links open up a new window).

Deborah Loewenberg Ball

Hyman Bass

Patricio Herbst

Magdalene Lampert

Vilma Mesa

Edward Silver

Mathematics Education graduate program student ambassadors

Contact one of our Mathematics Education graduate program ambassadors here. Ambassadors are students who have agreed to answer your questions about the program. We know there are times when you really want to hear about the program from a student's perspective, and these students have agreed to share their experiences. If you have general Mathematics Education questions, please contact the program directly here. Remember: To help us alert you to recruitment events and the latest admissions updates, be sure to also fill out a graduate program inquiry form.

Ambassadors:

Wendy Aaron, wendyaar@umich.edu

Charalambos Charalambous, chcharal@umich.edu

Yaa Cole, yaacole@umich.edu

Gloriana Gonzalez, glorigon@umich.edu

Recent Graduates

Babette Benken, California State University, Long Beach: bbenken@csulb.edu

Alison Castro, University of Illinois, Chicago: amcastro@math.uic.edu

Doug Corey, Brigham Young University, e-mail: corey@mathed.byu.edu

Gabriel Stylianides, University of Pittsburgh: gstylian@pitt.edu

Andreas Stylianides, Oxford University: andreas.stylianides@edstud.ox.ac.uk

Ed Wall

Mathematics Education: Research

Majoring in Mathematics Education at the University of Michigan gives you many opportunities to work with faculty members who are leaders in the Mathematics Education field.

Here is a list of some of the projects that Mathematics Education faculty and students are working on now, or have been involved with in the past.

Center for Proficiency in Teaching Mathematics

Center for Highly Interactive Computing in Education

Study of Instructional Improvement

Geometry, Reasoning, and Instructional Practices (GRIP)

Mathematics Teaching and Learning to Teach Project (MTLT):

mod 4: Materials Development Project

Learning Mathematics for Teaching (LMT)

Teaching Mathematics in Community Colleges

Comet Project (Cases of Mathematics Instruction to Enhance Teaching

Complete list of specialization courses in Mathematics (MA, MS, PhD)

EDUC 7XX: Mathematics Curriculum: Research and Development

This course investigates the intended and implemented school mathematics curriculum, its sources, history, and improvement models, with a particular emphasis on the U. S. and grades K-12, but also including postsecondary curriculum, international perspectives, and historical analyses. The course examines topics such as relationships between curriculum development and research, key curriculum policy documents, alternative theoretical orientations to curriculum, disciplinary foundations of mathematics and their connections with school curriculum, and the implementation of curriculum.

EDUC 7YY: The Study of Mathematical Thinking and Learning

This course examines research on children's and adults' understanding and reasoning in mathematics; alternative perspectives on how children and adults learn mathematics and on how to account for what they know and learn; different main traditions of theory and research on mathematics learning. Topics may include theoretical and research issues on mathematical thinking and learning from cognitive, constructivist, sociocultural, or situated perspectives; historical development of research on mathematics learning, theoretical perspectives on mathematics learning developed within the mathematics education community.

EDUC 7ZZ: The Study of Mathematics Instruction

This course introduces graduate students to the study of teaching and learning mathematics in classrooms. Topics include historical and comparative analyses of practice, approaches to the study of instruction, and theoretical and scholarly perspectives on instruction developed within and outside the mathematics education community. The course probes ways in which the work of mathematics teaching has been recorded, understood, and appraised, and how these perspectives influence conceptions of and approaches to teacher education and development.

EDUC 711: Research in Mathematics Education

This course acquaints doctoral students with a diverse sample of empirical studies in mathematics education, as well as with controversial contemporary issues being debated within the community. The course focuses on clusters of problems that mathematics education researchers investigate or have investigated, examining objects and methods of study. Students will develop familiarity with literature in mathematics education, as well as with approaches to selecting and defining significant directions for research. The course provides students with understanding of the history of mathematics education research and its relationships with mathematics education and educational research.

EDUC 657: Practicum in Mathematics Education

This is a guided opportunity in two significant contexts of mathematics education. Examples include work in a course for prospective teachers of mathematics, in a professional development program, on a curriculum or assessment development project, on a research project, or on a policy committee or project. Students work closely with faculty members, gaining access to their thinking about the work, and developing associated practices, issues, knowledge and skills. The practica may be taken before or following candidacy.

Educational Studies
Program Course Planning Sheet
For students admitted beginning Fall Term 2006

MATHEMATICS EDUCATION – MASTER of ARTS (M.A.) DEGREE

Minimum: 30 hours

THESE PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS MUST BE REVIEWED AND DISCUSSED WITH YOUR ADVISOR

Name: ______________________________________
Term Admitted: _________________________
Advisor: ______________________________

The Program Course Planning Sheet is to be submitted to the Office of Student Services during the term in which you plan to graduate.   For specific dates, contact the Office of Student Services (Room 1033) or view the "Instructions for Applying for a Master's, Specialist, or Doctoral Degree" via our web site.   Contact your advisor or ed.grad.admit@umich.edu with any questions regarding course work.     

Advisor Signature: _______________________________________________ Date: ________________

Program Chair Signature: _________________________________________ Date: ________________

Revised: 7/9/2006

Educational Studies
Program Planning Sheet
For students admitted beginning Fall Term 2003

Specialization Area: MATHEMATICS EDUCATION – DOCTORAL LEVEL

Minimum: 60 hours

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS MUST BE REVIEWED AND DISCUSSED WITH YOUR ADVISOR ON AN ANNUAL BASIS

Name: __________________________

Term Admitted: __________________________

Name of Advisor:__________________________

The Program Course Planning Sheet is to be submitted to the Office of Student Services (OSS) signed by your advisor at least one term prior to the term you plan to achieve candidacy.   For specific candidacy dates, contact OSS (Room 1033 School of Education) or view the School of Education web site: http://soe.umich.edu/deadlines/candidacy/index.html .

Preliminary Examination

• Contact the ES Program Office (Room 1225) when you are ready to begin the preliminary examination process regarding the forms and program deadline dates
• You must be registered in the term in which you submit Part A and Part B.

Total Credit Hours at Candidacy   _____      Total RFT * at Candidacy   _____

* RACKHAM FEE TOTALS (RFT'S):   Doctoral students are required to complete a total of 68 fee hours toward a doctoral degree.   Students admitted to a doctoral program with an earned master's degree (from an accredited institution) that is relevant to your doctoral program will be required to complete 50 fee hours at UM.   (Note:   Consult with the Office of Student Services about this requirement early in your doctoral program or refer to the Rackham Graduate Student Handbook of Policies and Procedures.)

Signature of Student ________________________________ Date _________________

Signature of Advisor ________________________________Date _________________

Office of Student Services Approval ___________________ Date _________________

Educational Studies Approval ________________________ Date _________________