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Research Interests
Research Interests
My area of research is in mathematics education. I take interests from philosophy and positive psychology. Especially: writings on the nature and musings of (secondary to postsecondary mathematics) education. Though the phrase "creativity" often weighs like a brick, to me it means a focus on interdisciplinarity, novelty, and birds-eye-view on the world.
My research studies cultural objects in mathematics education, often with the intention of improving educational equity. It is imaginative, playful, and inherently optimistic.
Mathematics Education Policy in Higher Education
Mathematical Wellbeing
Giftedness and Creativity
...and then there were thoughts!
...and then there were thoughts!
Below are a few sources citing the paradoxical nature of mathematics education today:
A Mathematician's Lament (Lockhart, 2009)
What is Mathematics For? (Dudley, 2010)
The Strange Role of Calculus in the United States (Bressoud, 2021)
The Mathematics of Opportunity (Burdman, 2018)
Some important questions raised here:
When does mathematics education infringe on the capabilities of students?
How can mathematics education be a greater vehicle for empowerment, creativity, and flourishing of students?
What even is the purpose of teaching mathematics? And if we could shape it, what could it be?
Distribution of scores from a domain-specific PERMA Profiler; male/female sample taken from the MATH 115 course at the University of Montana in the Fall 2022 semester.
Projects
Projects
Mathematical Wellbeing
Mathematical Wellbeing
Little attention has been placed on understanding what wellbeing looks like for students in mathematics courses at the tertiary level. Especially what it means to structure systems such as mathematics departments, in ways that promote student wellbeing.
Building on a previous analysis (see Almora Rios & Burdman, 2023), over the next three years, I will provide features to the experience of student mathematical wellbeing from two first-year math courses in five of 23 campuses in the California State University system. This is a quantitative study, using a psychometrically validated assessment tool to quantify the mathematical wellbeing of students. Supplemental interviews with department chairs will afterwards suggest relevant policies associated to an increased experience of mathematical wellbeing in first-year college students.
This study aims to be the largest of its kind on mathematical wellbeing in North America. Special attention is placed on concerns, of course, on educational equity. A predictive model for students' mathematical wellbeing based on demographical qualia—such as race, gender, parental educational attainment and support structures in home departments—will be constructed under a successful project.
Giftedness
Giftedness
What is the relationship between giftedness and student wellbeing? No—not from a "third-person" perspective, but from "first-person" one! What do I mean by this?
What is the relationship between giftedness and student wellbeing? No—not from a "third-person" perspective, but from "first-person" one! What do I mean by this?
Consider the following conjecture: "Students who are 'flourishing' are also students who are capable of recognizing 'the gifts within themselves'." Several terms can beed unpack here. "Flourishing"? "Recognizing"? "Gifts"? These are philosophical strata that need to be understood, with massive implications in the area of compassionate policy design (e.g., Compassionate California). Should student 'flourishing' be considered an educational goal? If it were, would it be a goal in high-demand? From which consumers?
Consider the following conjecture: "Students who are 'flourishing' are also students who are capable of recognizing 'the gifts within themselves'." Several terms can beed unpack here. "Flourishing"? "Recognizing"? "Gifts"? These are philosophical strata that need to be understood, with massive implications in the area of compassionate policy design (e.g., Compassionate California). Should student 'flourishing' be considered an educational goal? If it were, would it be a goal in high-demand? From which consumers?
The construct of giftedness in mathematics has been interweaving for a very long time. Cultural conceptions of intelligence are used to identify conceptions of giftedness. In the math classroom, these factors may prove a feasability in shedding light on the conjecture above.
The construct of giftedness in mathematics has been interweaving for a very long time. Cultural conceptions of intelligence are used to identify conceptions of giftedness. In the math classroom, these factors may prove a feasability in shedding light on the conjecture above.
Giftedness, giftedness—where am I?
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