Alison Castro Superfine - amcastro@uic.edu

  Asst. Prof. of Math and Learning Sciences

  621 SEO : 312-413-8029

  

Dr. Alison Castro-Superfine is an assistant professor both in mathematics education and learning sciences. Her current research interests focus on two main areas of education research. The first area of research involves the enactment of K-8 mathematics curricula in the classroom, particularly focusing on the interactions between teachers and math curricula. One integral part of research on curriculum enactment is understanding the extent to which teachers? conceptions of the subject they teach are aligned with the ideas about teaching and learning espoused in math curricula. How do teachers? conceptions of what it means to teach and learn mathematics influence how teachers? support students? engagement with the mathematics content? Given teachers? conceptions of mathematics teaching and learning and the ideas underlying the design of particular math curricula, how do teachers use curricula to support students? work during instruction? In trying to answer such questions, she draws upon a variety of qualitative research methodologies, including, but not limited to, interpretive case studies. Related to this domain of research are questions about the trajectory of teachers? curriculum use, and how and under what conditions does this use change over time? Finally, her second area of research involves preservice mathematics teacher education. In addition to teaching mathematics content courses for elementary preservice teachers, she also uses such courses as sites for inquiry into learning in formal contexts. The following questions inform her research in this domain: What is entailed in the work of math teaching? What is the knowledge needed for teaching elementary mathematics? How and in what ways do elementary preservice teachers learn the mathematics needed for teaching? How can elementary mathematics content courses be designed to support preservice teachers? learning of this content? Such ongoing questions inform not only her research in this domain, but also the content and design of the content courses she teaches.