My research has centered around the use of writing-to-learn (WTL) techniques in mathematics classes. In particular, using journal assignments in my lower-division mathematics courses. These assignments ask students to answer questions using mostly words as opposed to the typical computation questions seen.

The motivation for using these techniques lies in the concept of metacognition: understanding your own thought process. Since the viewpoint is that learning occurs in the students' own mind, students need to think of the reasons why certain concepts work the way they do. The journal concepts help motivate students to think through mathematical processes so that they can better understand the logic of why certain aspects work the way they do. An example of a journal assignment is presented below.