My Work

Length, area, and volume share structural similarities enabling flexibility in reasoning for real-world applications. Deep understanding of structures can help teachers connect the concepts to support their students’ reasoning and practices. In mathematics textbooks designed for future teachers, definitions of length, area, and volume vary from procedural (e.g., use a ruler to measure side lengths and formulas to calculate measures) to conceptual (e.g., construct appropriate n-dimensional units that tessellate the n-dimensional space) to formal (e.g., construct a function mapping qualitative size to a quantity of appropriate units). Definitional aspects such as mention of the concept as an attribute, dimensionality, or nonstandard are inconsistent across textbooks. Most textbooks mention the concept as a measure and examples of standard units. Attending to aspects of spatial attributes and their quantification can open conversations about structure and essential meanings of length, area, and volume.

Publications:

Stehr, E. M., He, J., & Nguyen, H. (2018). Selecting, Sequencing, and Connecting: Using Technology to Support Area Measurement through Tasks, Strategies, and Discussion. In Proceedings of the Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching and Learning Conference (Vol. 2, No. 4, pp. 1-14). Link

Stehr, E. M., & He, J. (2019). Definitions and meaning for future teachers in spatial measurement: Length, area, and volume. In Proceedings of the Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching and Learning Conference (Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 2-14). Link

Gilbertson, N. J., He, J., Satyam, V. R., Smith III, J. P., & Stehr, E. M. (2016). The Definitions of Spatial Quantities in Elementary Curriculum Materials. North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Link