I am a mathematics education professor and Director of the Kaput Center for Research and Innovation in STEM Education at UMass Dartmouth . From 2013-2017, I served as the chairperson for the Department of STEM Education & Teacher Development.

My research is focused on teachers’ mathematical knowledge. In am interested in what teachers know, how they use that knowledge in their teaching, how to support them in developing their understanding of mathematics, and how to measure their knowledge. I am currently focused on teachers’ understanding of proportional reasoning and how that shapes the ways in which they can and do teach proportions in middle school. My current research is looking at how to support teachers’ development of proportional reasoning using dynamic representations.

I am also interested in how to support teachers in incorporating “Maker” and similar approaches into their everyday classrooms. By engaging students in meaningful, hands-on experiences, we can build problem-solving skills, teach content, and prepare students to be flexible thinkers.