This list includes Math Ed Faculty and Specialists, and Research Associates and Specialists
with the Connected Mathematics Project.
Tonya Bartell
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Associate Professor, Department of Teacher Education
116N Erickson, (517) 432-4652
tbartell@msu.edu
Tonya Gau Bartell is an associate professor of mathematics education interested in
exploring teaching practices that promote mathematics learning for all students. Her
research focuses on issues of culture, race, and power in mathematics teaching and
learning, with particular attention to teachers’ development of mathematics pedagogy
for social justice and pedagogy integrating a focus on mathematics, children’s mathematical
thinking, and children’s community and cultural knowledge.
Kristen Bieda
Professor, Department of Teacher Education
317 Erickson, (517) 432-9925
http://kbiedamathed.com/
Kristen Bieda is a professor of mathematics education and current chair of the Department
of Teacher Education. Her research focuses on classroom practices related to reasoning
and proof in middle grades and secondary mathematics, with the goal of informing teacher
education, curriculum, and professional development programs. Other interests include
the use of lesson study in teacher preparation and the development of pre-service
teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching through the use of curriculum as well
as video-based representations of teaching.
Gail Burrill
Specialist, Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
burrill@msu.edu
Gail Burrill was a secondary teacher and department chair in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin
for over 28 years. She is currently a Mathematics Specialist in the Program in Mathematics
Education at Michigan State University. She served as President of the National Council
of Teacher of Mathematics (NCTM), and as Director of the Mathematical Sciences Education
Board. She co-directs the Institute for Advanced Study’s International Seminar and
the Secondary School Teachers Program component of the Park City Mathematics Institute.
Burrill is an instructor for Teachers Teaching with Technology and a senior mathematics
advisor to Texas Instruments Education Technology. She received the Presidential Award
for Excellence in Teaching Mathematics, an honorary doctorate from Rose Holman Institute
of Technology and the NCTM Lifetime Achievement Award. Her research interests are
statistics education, the use of technology in teaching secondary mathematics, and
issues related to what it means to teach mathematics. The author of numerous books
and articles on statistics and mathematics education, she has spoken nationally and
internationally on issues in teaching and learning mathematics.
Alden Jack "AJ" Edson
Research Associate Professor, Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
C723 Wells Hall, 517-432-4551
edsona@msu.edu
AJ Edson is a research associate professor of mathematics education. His research
focuses on secondary school mathematics curriculum design and development using design-based
research methodologies. In particular, AJ is interested in studying the enactment
of curriculum materials in a digital world. He is also interested in the affordances
of innovative mathematics curriculum materials as a context for teacher learning.
Currently, he works on initiating and implementing research and development grants
related to the Connected Mathematics Project and assisting with CMP activities. He
has had experience working on other NSF-funded curriculum materials, including Core-Plus
Mathematics and Transition to College Mathematics and Statistics. The work on these
projects involves collaborations with teams of mathematicians and statisticians, mathematics
and statistics educators, and school mathematics teachers with a goal of providing
students and teachers with problem-based, inquiry-oriented materials.
Richard "Abe" Edwards
Academic Specialist, Lyman Briggs College and Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
E-25D Holmes Hall, 517-884-3931
aedwards@msu.edu
Richard “Abe” Edwards is an academic specialist in the Lyman Briggs College within
MSU. He teaches a wide variety of mathematics courses and enjoys developing research
experiences for undergraduates. In his own research, he studies the complex interplay
between cultural norms, historical events, and mathematical developments. He is currently
exploring the benefits and constraints of teaching mathematics via primary source
documents. In addition, he directs an education abroad program in which students study
the cultural history of mathematics in Florence, Paris, and London. Abe is a 2016
graduate of our mathematics education doctoral program.
Taren Going
Research Associate, Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
C721 Wells Hall, 517-432-0054
goingtar@msu.edu
Taren Going is a postdoctoral scholar with the Connected Mathematics Project. She
received her PhD in Mathematics Education from MSU in Summer 2021. Her research interests
include inquiry-based and student-centered instruction, how to bring a broad, inclusive
and motivating vision of math to diverse students, proof and reasoning in the middle
school, and ambitious math teaching in the middle school.
Jennifer Green
Pronouns: she/her
Associate Professor, Department of Statistics & Probability and Program in Mathematics
Education (PRIME)
C442 Wells Hall, (517) 432-9892
C106 Wells Hall, 517-884-3476
Jennifer Green is an associate professor of statistics education in the Department
of Statistics and Probability and the Program in Mathematics Education (PriME). Her
research focuses on the development of teachers in grades K-16, as well as the development
of statistical methodology to characterize the impacts of educational programs for
teachers. Her research aims to improve STEM education with an emphasis on statistics,
informing and enhancing the processes of teaching, learning, and assessment across
all levels of education. She investigates the teaching and learning of statistics
through the development and refinement of programs for K-16 practitioners. Her current
interests include K-12 teachers' uses of data and statistics in classroom inquiry,
innovations to modernize and transform postsecondary statistics coursework, and graduate
student development in teaching and scientific oral communication. She teaches several
statistics and statistics education courses, including Theory of Probability and Statistics
and Teaching College Mathematics.
Beth Herbel-Eisenmann
Pronouns: she/her
Director, Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME) and Mathematics Education Graduate
Program
C111 Wells Hall, 517-884-3475
Professor, Department of Teacher Education
352 Erickson, 517-432-9607
Beth Herbel-Eisenmann is a professor in mathematics education in the College of Education,
Director of the Program in Mathematics Education, and has scholarly responsibilities
at the University of South-Eastern Norway. Much of her work has focused on ideas of
positioning, storylines, authority and power in mathematics classrooms and teacher
professional development and how these might be intentionally considered and enacted
to support students' developing identities as mathematics learners, counter oppressive
myths about mathematics, and change practices and policies that are oppressive. She
is committed to participatory approaches and works in long-term partnerships with
secondary mathematics teachers who engage in action research and youth in informal
settings who engage in youth participatory action research.
Lisa Keller
Pronouns: she/her
Academic Specialist, Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
C112 Wells Hall, 517-432-5472
Lisa Keller is a specialist and assistant director in the Program in Mathematics Education.
She is involved in recruiting and advising mathematics education doctoral students,
and for a number of years supervised the mathematics content courses for prospective
elementary teachers. She has an extensive background in teaching early undergraduate
mathematics courses and content/methods courses for prospective elementary teachers.
Taylor McNeill
Pronouns: they/them
Assistant Professor, Lyman Briggs College and Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
E-194A Holmes Hall
C103 Wells Hall, 517-884-3477
Taylor's research explores the implicit workings of whiteness and cisheteropatriarchy
in mathematics, which can perpetuate racial and gendered exclusion while simultaneously
maintaining the appearance that mathematics is a socially-neutral discipline. Focusing
on postsecondary mathematics faculty as needed change agents, they examine how mathematics
shapes faculty's critical consciousness of inequities in instruction and departmental
practices. Through this work they seek to reconceptualize mathematics and mathematics
department practices in ways that enable minoritized students and faculty to experience
mathematics as liberatory.
Vincent Melfi
Pronouns: he/him/his
Associate Professor, Department of Statistics & Probability
C421 Wells Hall, 517-432-3384
Vince Melfi is an associate professor and associate chair in the Department of Statistics
& Probability. His research interests include quantitative literacy, statistics education,
adaptive designs in clinical trials, Markov Chains, Renewal Theory, and Sequential
Allocations. Vince received his PhD from University of Michigan in 1991. He served
as the Director of PRIME from 2011-2019. Vince received the William L. Harkness Outstanding
Faculty Teaching Award in 2014.
Sunyoung Park
Research Associate, Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
C721 Wells Hall, 517-432-0054
sunpark@msu.edu
Sunyoung Park is a postdoctoral scholar with the Connected Mathematics Project. She
received her PhD in Mathematics Education from MSU in Summer 2023. Sunyoung hopes
to continue working with a small group of mathematics teachers and/or a school district
to collaboratively conduct action research. She hopes her endeavor and commitment
to assist teacher learning will inspire teachers to perceive themselves as agents
in making educational changes.
Elizabeth "Betty" Phillips
Senior Specialist, Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
C717 Wells Hall, 517-353-3835
phillip6@msu.edu
Betty Phillips is a senior academic specialist in the Program in Mathematics Education,
and received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from MSU in December 2022. She is
interested in curriculum design and development using design-based research methodologies
and the role of curriculum in the teaching and learning processes. She is an author
of the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) which is a problem-centered mathematics
curriculum for middle school teachers and students. Its overarching goal is to help
students and teachers develop mathematical knowledge, understanding, and skill along
with an awareness of and appreciation for the rich connections among mathematical
strands and between mathematics and other disciplines. Current research projects related
to CMP are the Arc of Learning, Student Work as a Context for Student Learning, and
Formative Assessment. She is also a Principle Investigator for two recent National
Science Foundation Research grants that investigate the efforts to promote middle
school mathematics learning and engagement with digital curriculum resources.
Yvonne Slanger-Grant
Specialist, Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
C719 Wells Hall, 517-432-0056
Yvonne Slanger-Grant is an academic outreach specialist. She is the professional development
coordinator for and assists with all of the activities of the Connected Mathematics
Project (CMP). Yvonne has held various roles in education including middle school
mathematics teacher, elementary teacher, instructional coach, professional development
consultant, developer and field test teacher of Connected Mathematics, and more. Yvonne
has assisted school districts and systemic initiatives in many states with the implementation
of standards-based curricula. Yvonne’s efforts in education have always focused on
enhancing mathematics learning and teaching.
Matthew Voigt
Pronouns: he/him
Assistant Professor, Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
C104 Wells Hall, 517-884-3474
Matthew Voigt is an assistant professor in the Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME).
His research interest examines issues of equity and inclusion in undergraduate STEM
education. Currently he has projects examining: ethical research with LGBTQIA+ human
subjects, systemic change efforts in math departments, co-equitable partnerships to
support low-income STEM transfer students, and examining the experiences of queer
students in STEM. He grew up in a rural farming community in Minnesota and is a proud
first-generation college student and Queer researcher! More information about Dr.
Voigt is available on his CV or personal website.
Kristen Vroom
Pronouns: she/her
Assistant Professor, Lyman Briggs College and Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
W-26E Holmes Hall
Kristen Vroom is an assistant professor of mathematics education. Her research is
in undergraduate mathematics education, focusing on the teaching and learning of mathematical
practices such as defining, conjecturing, and proving. Her research aims to transform
undergraduate classrooms by developing inquiry-oriented curriculum and instructor
support materials that promote student engagement in mathematical practices. One focus
of her work has been to support students’ fluency with formal mathematical language
by engaging them in mathematical practices.
Christopher Waston
Specialist, Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
C722 Wells Hall, 517-432-0351
Christopher Waston is a specialist for the Connected Mathematics Project. He works
with the CMP team focusing on communications and technology, managing websites and
social media accounts, communicating the story of CMP with various stakeholders, collaborating
with the team to support data collection and analysis, and assisting with CMP events
in person and online.
