Keri Valentine Bio

Dr. Keri Valentine is an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction/Literacy Studies at WVU. She joined WVU in 2014 after earning her doctorate from the University of Georgia in Learning, Design, and Technology. Previously, Dr. Valentine worked as an elementary and middle grades mathematics teacher as well as a district level mathematics and science school support specialist in both Georgia and New York.

Dr. Valentine's scholarship is interdisciplinary, spanning the fields of mathematics education, qualitative inquiry, learning sciences, and educational technology. A major thread running through her scholarship involves attending to learners (and players) experiences with complex spatial phenomenon—mathematical, virtual, and natural. Using phenomenological research approaches, she investigates phenomena, such as shifts in perspective and embodied cognition, both in mathematics learning and game play. She also uses design-based research (DBR) approaches to iteratively design, implement, and evaluate learning innovations in both formal and informal environments. Her research agenda is motivated by experiences as a middle school mathematics teacher, where she experimented with possibilities for engaging learners in non-traditional explorations of geometry and space (e.g., investigating the fourth dimension). Since starting at WVU, she expanded this focus to investigate augmented spaces (e.g., video games Pokémon Go and Fez), game design camps where youth designers create play spaces, and mathematics teacher education contexts where pre-service teachers design mathematics learning experiences for their future students. Her research efforts seek to primarily contribute to the field of mathematics education in order to imagine formal and informal possibilities for engaging learners in the core activity of “grasping space” (Freudenthal, 1973; Hansen, 1998) and to consider more broadly what might be entailed in the field’s vision for “changing perceptions about what it means to do mathematics” (NCTM Research Committee, 2015, p. 139).

Additional information regarding Dr. Valentine's research focus can be accessed on the publications and presentations pages as well as by viewing her curriculum vitae.