Students and Alumni – Mathematics

Enactive Educational Ecosystem for the Emergent Learning of Polar Graphing

wiesea — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 16:28:23 +0000

Each week in class, they pose and pursue their own mathematical inquiries into the wild world of the polar coordinate system through pole-based movement and with other invented tools, tasks, and practices. As they do so, they reflect on how spaces, bodies, things, and feelings shape our mathematical thinking and enliven our understandings. It’s a curious playground, for sure.

At a pivotal moment in their inquiry, they recently joined renowned NYC subway dancer, Ikeem Jones (), on the E-train where he gave them all kinds of choreo-mathematical things to think about. And be in awe of. Check him out. In the first video, he’s doing what he does. In the second one, he’s enacting his interpretation of the 4-petal graph of r = sin 2θ.

�鶹��ý�� Math Club hosts first Integration Bee

wiesea — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 19:56:47 +0000

The �鶹��ý�� Math Club was inspired by the well-known competitions held at MIT. Students competed through four rigorous rounds, tackling challenging integrals for a chance to place among the top finishers. The competition was fierce, with Lenovo laptops awarded to the top three performers and additional prizes for students who advanced to the third round.

Congratulations to our Winners

From left: Nyaisha Green, Vlad Nita, Luis Araujo with their prizes winning the Integration Bee

Third Place: Nyaisha Green

Second Place: Vlad Nita

First Place: Luis Araujo

Thank you to everyone who participated and helped make the first Integration Bee a success. We are excited to make this a new tradition!

Fraction Multiplication bringing back Confidence

wiesea — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 16:04:27 +0000

Hailee Lowry is an elementary education major. She described a rocky relationship with math in the past: “I honestly used to be so bad at math so it made me hate it.” But as she explored fraction multiplication in her course and had the support of her professor, Dr. DiNapoli, she began to feel a new sense of confidence. So much so that she excitedly claimed,

I was honestly so confused but when he gave me little insights and extra help I understood the topic so well and got a 98 on my test. It was the best I have felt about math in a long time!

Keep up that excitement Hailee!

Doctoral Students and Faculty Present at RUME

wiesea — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 16:08:00 +0000

Five doctoral students and two faculty presented at the in Alexandria, VA.

From left: Emily Olson, Amy Daniel, and John O’Meara speak to audience members after their talk

Doctoral candidates John O’Meara and Amy Daniel, and doctoral student Emily Olson presented their work for the broader research team of doctoral student Toni Tork, John O’Meara, Amy Daniel, Emily Olson, Dr. Eileen Fernández, and Dr. Mika Munakata on Approaches to College Mathematics: Reimagining Remediation and Improving Student Outcomes in Precalculus. They drew a huge crowd that stayed long after their session to seek their advice on how to improve their own courses.

From left: Emily Olson, Amy Daniel, and John O’Meara

Doctoral students Asja Alić and Ariel Bonneau Rodriguez presented a poster with Dr. Greenstein: From the Polar to the Pole: The Enactive and Embodied Choreomathematics of the Polar Coordinate System (see feature image). It was a pivotal moment at RUME, as this poster attracted the masses. Attendees engaged with the tools, tasks, and embodied actions to conceptually explore polar graphing.

From left: Dr. Nina Bailey and Amy Daniel

Doctoral candidate, Amy Daniel, and Dr. Nina Bailey presented a brief report on Math anxiety data sources: Capturing individual differences through diverse lenses. Their work demonstrates that observations of student participation can supplement more conventional assessments to enable researchers to attend to the triggers and responses of students’ math anxiety.

Keep up the fabulous work Amy, Ariel, Asja, Emily, and John. We are so proud of you!

Doctoral students and faculty present at AMTE

wiesea — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 17:01:14 +0000

Doctoral Candidates, Amanda Provost and Helene Leonard, presented a session with Drs. Nicole Panorkou and Steven Greenstein on Responsive Professional Development for Curricular and Pedagogical Innovation: The Case of Balancing Acts. See feature image.

Doctoral candidate Amy Daniel presented a brief report with Dr. Nina Bailey: Learning About Preservice Teacher Math Anxiety: What Do Different Data Sources Offer Mathematics Teacher Educators? See below.

Doctoral student Asja Alić presented a poster with Dr. Nina Bailey and collaborator Dr. Karoline Smucker of Eastern Oregon University: Initiating Conversations to Integrate Critical Statistical Literacy Habits of Mind into Teacher Preparation Courses. See below.

Keep up the fabulous work Amanda, Amy, Asja, and Helene. We are so proud of you!

Doctoral student and faculty present at International digital fabrication conference

wiesea — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 15:54:29 +0000

Doctoral Student Michael Frimpong along with Drs. Nina Bailey and Steven Greenstein presented at the . This conference brings together educators across the globe who are designing and using digital fabrication and making in schools. Michael designed a 3D physical statistical manipulative for use with elementary students for generative, agentive, creative, and embodied sense making of data. Michael works in our Innovation and Design Lab in the College of Science and Mathematics and is a 3D printing wizard!

Sample Student created 3D graphs to represent data on how students get to school using Michael’s 3D physical statistical manipulative

Using Fraction Strips to Develop Understanding

wiesea — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 15:16:28 +0000

Brianna Stratton is an elementary education major. She described an experience in Dr. DiNapoli’s course that helped her visualize fractions:

For me personally, fractions are my weakness in math. I have always struggled with fractions, and still do. Dr. DiNapoli’s explanations in class show me how to grasp onto information thoroughly. The concept of the lessons are confusing, however, looking back through his lessons helped me discover more information. By drawing out fraction strips and cutting them into pieces has helped me think throughout this process to further my answer.

Second Annual Mathematics Education Panel Discussion

wiesea — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 21:02:53 +0000

Three members of our doctoral program recently joined Dr. DiNapoli’s Teaching Mathematics secondary math methods course for this year’s Mathematics Education Panel Discussion. The panelists – Christa Mawn, Gabriella Migliore, and Denis Cook – are experienced professionals in K-12 mathematics education who shared valuable insights about teaching, the job search process, supporting students, and finding balance in the profession. The students taking the math methods course led the conversation with thoughtful questions, making for a lively and inspiring exchange. Many thanks to our panelists for their time, expertise, and encouragement.

The photo captures our panelists together with several students from the class. Thank you, panelists, for your willingness to serve!

Doctoral Student presents at AMATYC

wiesea — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 14:52:24 +0000

John O’Meara, doctoral candidate in the PhD program in Mathematics Education, presented a talk with Dr. Mika Munakata at the in Reno, Nevada on November 13, 2025. Their talk, Bridging Gaps Between Two- and Four-Year Colleges: A Social Network Approach, shared research based on their work on the NSF-funded Noyce STEM-4-STEM program (Award #2150649) with Dr. Larkin, Department of Teaching and Learning.

Department Open House a Huge Success

wiesea — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 15:35:57 +0000

Members of the Mathematics Department hosted an Open House event recently, where prospective students could visit campus and learn more about the life of a mathematics major at �鶹��ý��. Faculty Dr. Eliza Leszczynski and our department student ambassadors (Ryan Avallone, Alex Brown, Kiki Couchman, Annabella Ganun, Nyaisha Green, Lauren Khalil, and Preston Pietruszewski) represented our department well. Please help spread the word about the fantastic benefits of studying mathematics at �鶹��ý��!

From Left: Dr. Bogdan Nita, Preston Pietruszewski, Dr. Karmen Yu, Annabella Ganun, and Dr. Eliza Leszczynski
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From Left: Ryan Avallone, Preston Pietruszewski, and Annabella Ganun
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