Naneh Apkarian

Victoria Delaney

Assistant Professor
Mathematics Education
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education

Email

Primary Email: [email protected]

Building/Location

6475 Alvarado Rd
#206
San Diego, CA 92120

Website Links

Bio

Naneh Apkarian is Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at SDSU. Naneh grew up and completed her education in Southern California culminating with a Ph.D. in Mathematics and Science Education from the joint doctoral program between UC San Diego and SDSU. She previously worked as a postdoctoral research associate at Western Michigan University and Assistant Professor in Arizona State University’s School of Mathematics & Statistics.

Naneh's broad research focus is departmental change aimed at improving students' experiences with introductory STEM courses. Existing and ongoing research in RUME and DBER (and K-12 mathematics and science education fields) points to many pedagogical strategies, curricular approaches, and program structures which can support student success and broaden participation beyond the current system. However, shifts at the individual, departmental, and institutional level toward implementing these practices and structures have proven challenging at scale. Her work engages a systemic cultural approach to understand the relationships between individual, department and institutional factors that support and constrain interest, willingness and capacity for instructional change.

In her spare time, she continues to play competitive water polo, travel and build community.

Education

Ph.D. Mathematics Education, San Diego State University and University of California San Diego, 2018
M.A. Mathematics, University of California San Diego, 2013
B.A. Mathematics, Pomona College, 2010

Grants

Impact of coordination and common course model on student outcomes (Gates Foundation: $575,155). PI: Chris Rasmussen (SDSU). Co-PIs: Naneh Apkarian (SDSU); Deb Carney (Colorado School of Mines). Oct 2025 - Sep 2027.

Collaborative Research: Investigating the Uptake of Research Based Instructional Strategies – Post-COVID Update (NSF 2416741 & 2534608: $270,586). PIs: Estrella Johnson (Virginia Tech) & Naneh Apkarian (SDSU). Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE); Division of Undergraduate Education (EDU); Directorate for STEM Education (EDU); National Science Foundation (NSF). Oct 2024 - Sep 2026.

Publications

  • Apkarian, N., Voigt, M., Hagman, J. E., Tremaine, R., Street, C., Martinez, A., & Guglielmo, J. (2024). Critical, intersectional, quantitative analyses of instructional practices and changes in undergraduate students’ mathematics affect. International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. 10.1007/s40753-024-00242-6. Available: rdcu.be/dLy4c
  • Wang, Y., Apkarian, N., Dancy, M. H., Henderson, C., Johnson, E., Raker, J. R., & Stains, M. (2024). A national snapshot of introductory chemistry instructors and their instructional practices. Journal of Chemistry Education, 101(4), 1457-1468. 10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c00040. ACS Publications Editors’ Choice selection (pubs.acs.org/editorschoice/).
  • Dancy, M., Henderson, C., Apkarian, N., Johnson, E., Stains, M., Raker, J. R., & Lau, A. C. (2024). Physics instructors’ knowledge and use of active learning has increased over the last decade – but most still lecture too much. Physics Review Physics Education Research, 20, 010119. 10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.20.010119
  • Lau, A. C., Henderson, C., Stains, M., Dancy, M., Merino, C., Apkarian, N., Raker, J. R., & Johnson, E. (2024). Characteristics of departments with high-use of active learning in introductory courses: Implications for departmental transformation. International Journal of STEM Education, 11(10). 10.1186/s40594-024-00470-x. Available: rdcu.be/dyuMI
  • Couch, B. A., Prevost, L. B., Stains, M., Whitt, B., Marcy, A. E., Apkarian, N., Dancy, M. H., Henderson, C., Johnson, E., Raker, J. R., †Yik, B. J., Earl, B., Shadle, S., Skvoretz, J., & Ziker, J. P. (2023). Examining whether and how instructional coordination occurs within introductory undergraduate STEM courses. Frontiers in Education, 8:1156781. 10.3389/feduc.2023.1156781
  • Apkarian, N., Haber, S., †LaTona Tequida, T., & Rasmussen, C. (2023). Prospective secondary teachers’ emergent knowledge and beliefs: Inquiry-Oriented Differential Equations contributing to teacher preparation. ZDM, 55, 823-835. 10.1007/s11858-023-01469-4
  • Dreyfus, T., Apkarian, N., Rasmussen, C., & Tabach, M. (2023). Collective and individual mathematical progress: Layering explanations in the case of Sierpiński triangle. International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. 10.1007/s40753-022-00211-x
  • Yik, B. J., Raker, J. R., Apkarian, N., Stains, M., Henderson, C., Dancy, M. H., & Johnson, E. (2022). Association of malleable factors with adoption of research-based instructional strategies in introductory chemistry, mathematics, and physics. Frontiers in Education, 7:1016415. 10.3389/feduc.2022.1016415
  • Vishnubhotla, M., Chowdhury, A., Apkarian, N., Johnson, E., Dancy, M., Henderson, C., Lau, A.C., Raker. J. R., & Stains, M., (2024). “I use IBL in this course” may say more about an instructor’s beliefs than about their teaching. International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, 10(1). 10.1007/s40753-022-00186-9
  • Vroom, K., Gehrtz, J., Apkarian, N., Alzaga Elizondo, T., Ellis, B., & Hagman, J. (2022). Characteristics of interactive classrooms that first year students find helpful. International Journal of STEM Education, 9(38). 10.1186/s40594-022-00354-y. Available at https://rdcu.be/cPrPv
  • Creagar, M., Wakefield, N., Smith, W. M., Apkarian, N., Voigt, M. (2022). Developing the Student Instructional Practices Survey in Mathematics for measuring student experiences in introductory mathematics courses. Investigations in Mathematics Learning, 14(2), 151-165. 10.1080/19477503.2022.2060023 
  • Yik, B. J., Raker, J. R., Apkarian, N., Stains, M., Henderson, C., Dancy, M. H., & Johnson, E. (2022). Evaluating the impact of malleable factors on percent time lecturing in gateway chemistry, mathematics, and physics courses. International Journal of STEM Education, 9, 15. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-022-00333-3
  • Williams, M., Apkarian, N., Uhing, K., Smith, W. M., Martinez, A., & Rasmussen, C. (2021). In the driver’s seat: Course coordinators as change agents for active learning in university Precalculus to Calculus 2. International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. http://doi.org/10.1007/s40753-021-00153-w
  • Apkarian, N., Henderson, C., Stains, M., Raker, J. R., Johnson, E., & Dancy, M. H. (2021). What really impacts the use of active learning in undergraduate STEM education? Results from a national survey of chemistry, mathematics, and physics instructors. PLOS ONE 16­(2): e0247544. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247544
  • Apkarian, N., & Rasmussen, C. (2021). Instructional leadership structures across five university departments. Higher Education, 81(4), 865-887. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00583-6. Available at https://rdcu.be/b5qY3 [Published online July 2020]
  • Pilgrim, M. E., Apkarian, N., Milbourne, H., & O’Sullivan, M. (2021). From rough waters to calm seas: The challenges and successes of building a GTA PD program. PRIMUS, 31(3-5), 594-607. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2020.1793851  [Published online July 2020]
  • Goodchild, S., Apkarian, N., Rasmussen, C., & Katz, B. (2021). Critical stance within a community of inquiry in an advanced mathematics course for pre-service teachers. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 24, 231-252. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-020-09456-2. Available at https://rdcu.be/b22nd [Published online March 2020]
  • Tabach, M., Rasmussen, C., Dreyfus, T., & Apkarian, N. (2020). Towards an argumentative grammar for networking: A case of coordinating two approaches. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 103(2), 139-155. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-020-09934-7. Available at https://rdcu.be/b1g44
  • Rasmussen, C., Apkarian, N., Tabach, M., & Dreyfus, T. (2020). Ways in which engaging in someone else’s reasoning is productive. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 58, 100742.
  • Reinholz, D. L., Matz, R. M., Cole, R., & Apkarian, N., (2019). STEM is not a monolith: A preliminary analysis of variations in STEM disciplinary cultures and implications for change. CBE—Life Sciences Education, 18(4). https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.19-02-0038
  • Voigt, M., Apkarian, N., Rasmussen, C., & Progress through Calculus Team. (2019). Undergraduate course variations in Precalculus through Calculus 2. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology.https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2019.1636148
  • Apkarian, N., Kirin, D., Gehrtz, J., & Vroom, K. (2021). Connecting the stakeholders: Departments, policy, and research in undergraduate mathematics education. PRIMUS, 31(1), 17-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2019.1629135 (published online July 2019).
  • Apkarian, N., Tabach, M., Dreyfus, T., & Rasmussen, C. (2019). The Sierpinski smoothie: Blending area and perimeter. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 101(1), 19-34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-019-09889-4. Available at https://rdcu.be/bqXod
  • Reinholz, D. L., Bradfield, K., & Apkarian, N. (2019). Using analytics to support instructor reflection on student participation in a discourse-focused undergraduate mathematics classroom. International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, 5(1), 56-74. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40753-019-00084-7 
  • Rasmussen, C., Apkarian, N., Hagman, J. E., Johnson, E., Larsen, S., Bressoud, D., & Progress through Calculus team. (2019). Characteristics of Precalculus through Calculus 2 programs: Insights from a national census survey. Journal of Research in Mathematics Education, 50(1), 98-112. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.50.1.0098
  • Apkarian, N., Bowers, J., O’Sullivan, M. E., & Rasmussen, C. (2018). A case study of change in the teaching and learning of Precalculus to Calculus 2: What we’re doing with what we have. PRIMUS, 28(6), 528-549. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2017.1388319
  • Reinholz, D. L., & Apkarian, N. (2018). Four frames for systemic change in STEM departments. International Journal of STEM Education, 5(3), 1-10.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0103-x
  • Dinsdale, E.A., Edwards, R.A., Bailey, B.A., Tuba, I., Akhter, S., McNair, K., Schmieder R., Apkarian, N., Creek, M., Guan, E., Hernandez, M., Isaacs, K., Peterson, C., Regh, T., & Ponomarenko, V. (2013) Multivariate analysis of functional metagenomes. Frontiers: Genetics,4(41). https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2013.0004