The Team 

Kristen Bieda is an associate professor of teacher education and mathematics education at Michigan State University. She also holds an appointment as the Associate Director of Mathematics for the CREATE for STEM Institute. Prior to her appointment at Michigan State, she taught mathematics at the middle school, high school and community college levels. Her research interests include understanding how to incorporate mathematical justification into school mathematics, particularly at the middle school level. She is also interested in the design of clinical experiences that support prospective teachers in learning to teach ambitiously. She is currently the subject area leader for secondary mathematics for Michigan State’s secondary mathematics teacher preparation program.

Azaria joined the UTEMPT research team in 2018, where she serves as a research assistant. She is a PhD candidate in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Curriculum and Supervision at The Pennsylvania State University. Azaria holds a bachelors in Integrated Mathematics and Science with a double major in Elementary (K-6) and Middle School (6-8) Science Education specialization. Also, she earned a masters degree in Higher Education Administration with a concentration in Leadership Studies from William Paterson University of New Jersey. Before beginning her doctoral studies, Azaria taught middle school science for six years.

As a former science educator, Azaria’s research interest resides in understanding how pre-service and teacher educators learn from within school contexts through teacher-driven mechanisms such as real-time coaching, mentoring, and supervision practices. Outside of her studies, Azaria appreciates a great book, global travel, dancing to reggae, and indulging in an assortment of foods. 

Jon has been a part of the UTEMPT team since 2019 as both a research assistant and a mentor teacher in the UTE model. As a research assistant, he has worked on the VHQMI project, investigating the growth in PST’s instructional visions as well as the mentor teacher project, exploring the ways in which the UTE mentor teachers grow as mathematics educators. His research interests outside of UTEMPT include teacher professional noticing, mathematical philosophy and epistemology, and the classical education movement. When he is not teaching and researching, he mostly spends his time cheering on Minnesota sports teams and chasing around his two kids, Elli and Simeon.

Sheila has two children and loves to spend time outdoors with them whether it is traveling, hiking, riding bikes, or going to the beach. In addition to spending time outdoors Sheila is a lover of sports and often spends down time watching sports (and when not in a pandemic attending sporting events). Sheila’s research focuses on how teachers create humanizing spaces in their mathematics classrooms. Building on this work, she is also interested in how teachers are prepared to do this work. This gets extended to the UTEMPT project, through understanding how PSTs are thinking about the relational aspects of teaching while still providing ambitious instruction. 

I hope to implement aspects of the UTE into the secondary education program at Grace. My work on the project has included analyzing secondary mathematics preservice teachers’ videos of their teaching for their mathematical quality of instruction, developing a protocol to assist MTEs in providing feedback on the mathematical quality of their PSTs’ lesson plans, and analysis work on the in-the-moment coaching study. My own research interests revolve around understanding the experiences people have in their k-12 education that affect their attitudes toward mathematics as well as how attitudes and beliefs about mathematics are related. Outside of grad school, I enjoy woodworking, gardening, farming, and being active through sports or exercise, but most importantly, I enjoy spending time and exploring new places with my wife and kids.