The PEER-Chicago Team
The PEER-Chicago Team is made up of seven Discipline-Based Education Researchers (DBER), three in Physics and four in Mathematics. We have different research areas and years of experience, so this helps us frame our professional development further. Below are our stories and links to more of our research.
Dr. Emilie HancockEmilie Hancock received her Ph.D. from the University of Northern Colorado in 2018. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Central Washington University with a dual position in the Mathematics and the Science and Mathematics Education departments. As a mathematics educator, Emilie’s interests include the teaching and learning of mathematical problem-solving habits of mind, examining classroom interactions and norm development, and designing classroom communities utilizing student-centered pedagogical practices.
Emilie works to improve K-16 STEM education through a variety of endeavors, including as a member of the Committee on the Mathematical Education of Teachers (COMET) of the Mathematical Association of America, as Elementary Program Coordinator of the Kittitas Valley Math Circle, and as co-PI of an NSF-funded Noyce grant to create a graduate program in STEM Leadership that will position CWU as a STEM network hub in Washington State. In addition to organizing the PEER Chicago workshop, she supports faculty scholarship as an editor of the Journal of Math Circles. In her spare time, Emilie enjoys cooking, hiking, and goofing around with her husband, daughter, and doggo. |
Dr. Mary Bridget KustuschDr. Mary Bridget Kustusch's scholarly work is in the area of Physics Education Research (PER). She has conducted qualitative and mixed methods research on topics such as the intersection between mathematics and physics, the development of student agency in the classroom, and equity in small group interactions. As a co-director of the Professional development for Emerging Education Research (PEER) program, she has developed and conducted numerous field schools on education research. After earning a BS in Physics from North Park University and a PhD in Physics from North Carolina State University, she spent two years as a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University working on the Paradigms in Physics project, primarily studying the learning of partial derivatives and thermodynamics.
|
Dr. Emily Cilli-TurnerEmily Cilli-Turner received her doctorate from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a dissertation about the impacts of inquiry teaching on students’ proof construction and validation skills in an introduction to proof course. She will be Assistant Professor of Mathematics at University of La Verne in Fall 2018. Her primary research interests are student thought processes when they are constructing mathematical proofs and ways to introduce and value creativity in proof-based courses. However, she has also studied the effectiveness of a flipped pedagogy in an introductory statistics course and is currently working on a project to determine if spatial training can increase calculus ability. When she is not teaching and researching, she enjoys backpacking, traveling and trying new and interesting foods.
|
Dr. Scott FranklinScott Franklin is Professor of Physics at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and Director of the CASTLE Center for Advancing STEM Teaching, Learning & Evaluation. He received his Ph.D. in 1997 in theoretical nonlinear dynamics from The University of Texas at Austin and then held an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology Education, working with Priscilla Laws at Dickinson College. In 2000 he joined the faculty at RIT where he conducts research in granular materials and, separately, physics education. His physics education research included early studies in the myths behind learning styles, the dynamics of student learning, and how physics conceptual meaning is embedded in mathematical formalism. More recent work has looked at enhancing student metacognitive thought through guided and unguided reflection prompts and novel measures of equity in student working groups. Along with Eleanor Sayre and Mary Bridget Kustusch, Scott initiated PEER in 2014 with a local workshop at RIT. Motivated by participants eager to bring PEER methodology back to their home institutions, it quickly expanded, with workshops now having been held in Rwanda, Germany, Mexico, and Canada.
|
Dr. Gulden KarakokGulden Karakok received her Ph.D. from Oregon State University in 2009 and is an associate professor at the School of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC). Her research background is in transfer of learning of mathematics concepts with various theoretical lens. In particular, she is interested in understanding the ways in which learners make connections among various mathematics topics while solving math problems and instructions can be enhanced to help learners make such connections. These explorations formed the basis for her interest in investigating creativity in mathematics. She is one of the developers of the Creativity-in-Progress Rubric (CPR) on Proving and a co-author of publications of the research group. She continuously mentors graduate and undergraduate students in mathematics education research and currently working with Kimberley Cadogan (graduate student) and Lorraine Franco (undergraduate student) on the Creativity-in-Progress Rubric (CPR) on Problem Solving. In addition to research, Gulden co-directs the Northern Colorado Math Circles outreach program at the UNC. This program provides monthly problem-solving activities and summer camps and workshops for 4th-8th grade local students and inservice mathematics teachers. Gulden is one of the workshop facilitators for the Academy of Inquiry Based Learning. During her free time, she enjoys listening to her research group’s karaoke and cooking Turkish food!
|
Dr. Eleanor C. SayreI am a Professor of Physics at Kansas State University. I am also a partner at the Alder Science Education Association (AlderSEA) and a co-Director of the Professional development for Emerging Education Researchers (PEER) program. I have over 80 peer-reviewed publications in discipline-based education research. I conduct research on how students develop professional identity in physics, linking the development of their technical knowledge with their perceptions of what it means to do physics. I also conduct research into effective professional development for university faculty, linking models of faculty motivation to their practices in the classroom.
There are more details of my research at the Sayre Lab. I graduated from the University of Maine with a PhD in 2007 and a MST in 2005, from Grinnell College with a BA in 2002, and from Falmouth Academy in 1998. For more professional details, my CV is here. In my spare time, I enjoy knitting, gaming, and parenting. I try to wear one hand-made item every day, usually several. This includes jewelry, knitted and sewn garments, and purpose-built accessories. |
Dr. Miloš Savić
Miloš Savić received his Ph.D. from New Mexico State University in 2012 under the guidance of Drs. Annie and John Selden. His background is in researching undergraduate mathematics education (RUME), initially in the proving process. A critical part of his dissertation was the investigation of incubation, one of the four stages of the creative process proposed by Jacques Hadamard in 1945. It is this process, along with trying to alleviate students' difficulties in proving, that motivated him to research in creativity. His other projects include looking at productive failures in classrooms, large-enrollment courses and active learning, and impacts of creativity on students' self-efficacy. Miloš is a tenured associate professor at the University of Oklahoma in the department of mathematics. He is also a member of the Creativity Research Group and committee member of the International Group of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness. Outside of academics, Miloš enjoys playing with his kids, watching and playing soccer, and amateur woodworking.