Susan Nickerson
Professor of Mathematics Education, MSED Co-Director
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education
Primary Email: [email protected]
Building/Location
Geology Mathematics Computer Science - 563
6475 Alvarado Rd
#206
San Diego,
CA
92120
Website Links
Bio
With Judy & Larry Sowder, co-author of a mathematics text for elementary teachers: Reconceptualizing Mathematics (W. H. Freeman, Publisher)
Resources for use in Reconceptualizing Mathematics courses: Book companion site—
Resources for instructors (videos & GeoGebra)
Education
- Ph.D., 2001, Mathematics and Science Education, University of California at San Diego/San Diego State University
- M.A., 1996, Applied Mathematics, University of California at San Diego
- B.S., 1980, Mathematics, Eastern Nazarene College
Areas of Specialization
Algebraic Thinking, Situated Cognition
Grants
DynaBook: Dr. Janet Bowers and I are partners with SRI International, San Francisco State University, and Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) to develop and research a digital textbook for pre-service and prospective middle school teachers of mathematics. The content focus is proportionality. Funded by NSF DRK-12.
Project Algebraic: We partner with Lake Elsinore Unified School District and Temecula Valley Unified School District to support and research professional development of teachers in grades 3 through Algebra I in these two districts. The design is a summer-intensive week and Lesson Study Mini-Institutes during the academic year. We are interested in teacher learning and developing mechanisms to enable teachers to continue their work through hybrid lesson study. Funded by a CA Mathematics and Science Partnership (MSP) grant.
Number Sense: With Ian Whitacre I study prospective elementary teachers. We have developed a Local Instruction Theory for the development of number sense.
Publications
Selected Articles in Refereed Journals
Whitarcre, Ian & Susan D. Nickerson (2016), Prospective elementary teachers making sense of multidigit multiplication: Leveraging resources, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 47 (3).
Nickerson, S. D., & Masarik, D. K. (2010). Assessing teachers' developing interpretive power: Analysing student thinking. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, 13, 1-11.
Nickerson, S. D. & Whitacre, I. (2010). A local instruction theory for the development of number sense. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 12, 227-252.
Nickerson, S. D. (2009/2010). Preparing experienced elementary teachers as mathematics specialists. Investigations in Mathematics Learning, 2(2), 51-68.
Bowers, J. S., & Nickerson, S. (2001). Identifying cyclic patterns of interaction to study individual and collective learning. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 3 (1), 1-28.
Bowers, J. S., & Nickerson, S. D. (2000). Students' changing views of rates and graphs when working in a simulation microworld. Focus on Learning Problems in Mathematics, 22 (3/4), 10-25.
Nickerson, S. D., Nydam, C., & Bowers, J. S. (2000). Linking algebraic concepts and contexts: Every picture tells a story. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 6, 92-98.
Peer-Reviewed Book Chapters:
Zaslavsky, O., Nickerson, S. D., Stylianides, A. J., Kidron, I., Winiki-Landman, G. (2012). The need for proof and proving: Mathematical and pedagogical perspectives. In G. Hanna & M. deVilliers (Eds.) Proof and proving in mathematics education. New York: Springer.
Recent Articles in Refereed Proceedings
Nickerson, S., Bowers, J., & Fredenberg, M. (2011). Moving forward at an exponential rate: Crossing discipline boundaries to prepare teachers for the 21st century classroom. In L. R. Wiest & T. Lamberg (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education(pp. 1464-1467). Reno, NV: University of Nevada, Reno.
Brown, C. & Nickerson, S. D. (2011). Perspectives on instructor modeling in mathematics teacher education In L. R. Wiest & T. Lamberg (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education(pp. 408-416). Reno, NV: University of Nevada, Reno.
Whitacre, I., & Nickerson, S. D. (2011). Extending a local instruction theory for the development of number sense to rational number. In S. Brown, S. Larsen, K. Marrongelle, and M. Oehrtman (Eds.), Proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, Vol. 2 (pp. 532-541). Portland, OR.
Whitacre, I., & Nickerson, S. D. (2011). Prospective elementary teachers develop improved number sense in reasoning about fraction magnitude. In L. R. Wiest & T. Lamberg (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 559-567). Reno, NV: University of Reno.
Nickerson, S. D. & Rasmussen, C. (2010). Enculturation to Proof: A Pragmatic and Theoretical Investigation. In P. Brosnan, D. B. Erchick, & L. Flevares (Eds.), Proceedings of the 32nd annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University.
Brown, C. & Nickerson, S. (2009). Modeling the Collective Inquiry Process in Mathematics Teacher Education. In S. L. Swars, D. W. Stinson, & S. Lemons-Smith (Eds.), Proceedings of the thirty-first annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 1074¬1082). Atlanta, Georgia: Georgia State University.
Whitacre, I. & Nickerson, S. D. (2009). Measuring Inquiry-Oriented Teaching in the Context of TA Professional Development. Proceedings of the twelfth annual meeting of SIGMAA Research in Undergraduate Mathematics.