Annie Selden

New Mexico State University

Las Cruces, New Mexico

Title: “A home for RUME”

Abstract: I will discuss SIGMAA on RUME’s predecessor, ARUME, the formation and growth of the SIGMAA to its present state with our successful annual conferences and current attempt to get a new online journal, Collegiate Mathematics Education Research Journal (CMERJ), off the ground.  I will continue with highlights of some of the research areas developed by our members, whether presented at our RUME Conferences or available elsewhere.  Lastly, I will mention some of my research with John Selden and others.

J. Michael Shaughnessy

President, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)

Portland State University

Portland, Oregon

Title: Conducting research across the K-12 to college threshold: Reasons why and some examples.

Abstract: At a time when conceptions of what constitutes college readiness have resurfaced within the CCSSO College and Career Ready Standards, and when the Common Core State Standards have raised issues that challenge the traditional transition paths from high school to college mathematics, most researchers continue to work just within in either a K-12 or a college research mileu, with little attention paid to what is going on in the other research world. The fact that we even refer to ourselves as K-12 or college mathematics researchers is problematic.

We actually know very little about student reasoning trajectories from K-12 to college, because we rarely take the time to carefully study students from both groups. As a result, K-12 and college research studies are often overly compartmentalized. We don't gather data on both sides of the 'divide', so to speak. Thus we are rarely in a position to build upon or connect to research carried out by colleagues who work within the other 'camp.' This is a missed opportunity in our research. Furthermore, there are an increasing number of reasons why we should be conducting research that bridges the K-12 to college divide.

This presentation will make a case for why we researchers should be investing more of our research on combined efforts on both sides of the transition phase, K – 12 to college. Several examples where the research bridge from K-12 to college has been crossed, or perhaps is, or could be, considered, will be discussed. 

Rina Zazkis

Simon Fraser University

Burnaby, British Columbia

Title: “Experience of disturbance as inspiration for RUME”

Abstract: An unexpected event in a teaching situation – referred to here as ‘experience of disturbance’ – often brings new ideas for research. I will share several examples of such events, as a result of which I learned mathematics and/or developed a pedagogical strategy, and the research that followed. The examples include a fundamental theorem, a common confusion and a popular riddle.