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Mitchell J. Nathan, Ph.D.
Professor
Learning
Sciences
PhD, 1991, University of Colorado-Boulder
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I am currently a professor of educational psychology (learning sciences) and curriculum & instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education . My Ph. D. (1991) is from University of Colorado-Boulder in experimental (cognitive) psychology. I have a B.S. in electrical and computer engineering, mathematics and history. I worked for a time in research and development in artificial intelligence, computer vision and robotic mobility, including: design and development of autonomous robotic arms and vehicles; the development of expert systems and knowledge extraction interview techniques; and the representation of perceptual and real-world knowledge to support inference-making in dynamic environments. I have also worked on computer-based tutoring environments for mathematics education that rely heavily on students' own comprehension processes for self-evaluation and self-directed learning (so-called unintelligent tutoring systems). My interest in robotics led me to cognitive psychology, which then led me to educational research and learning science.
RESEARCH STATEMENT
I currently study how students reason quantitatively, and how their intuitions (such as invented strategies) about quantitative relations can serve as the basis for learning formal algebraic strategies. I also study teachers' beliefs about the development of students' algebraic reasoning, how expert blind spot among educators with high levels of mathematics training may influence teachers' views of development, and how technology that supports video case analysis and professional discourse and reflection can facilitate teacher change and professional development. My work is largely rooted in cognitive, embodied and social aspects of learning and teaching behavior in and out of classrooms. I employ quantitative and qualitative research methods, such as experimental design, survey design, think aloud reports, and verbal and gestural analyses of discourse and design experiments. My work is directed at both basic research and applications to curriculum development, teacher education and staff development.
I am the principle investigator for the STAAR project (Supporting the Transition from Arithmetic to Algebraic Reasoning), funded through the IERI program (NSF, Dept. of Education-IES and NIH-NICHD), with colleagues at UW-Madison, University of Colorado, and Carnegie Mellon University. STAAR takes a multi-tiered view, investigating of algebra curricula, students' algebraic reasoning and conceptual development across the middle school years. Middle school algebra instruction and discourse in the classroom, and teacher professional development.
I am currently the secretary/treasurer for the International Society of the Learning Sciences and part of the new learning sciences community at UW-Madison.
REPRESENTATIVE PUBLICATIONS:
Alibali, M. W. & Nathan, M. J. (in press). Teachers' gestures as a means of scaffolding students' understanding: Evidence from an early algebra lesson. To appear in Goldman, R., Pea, R., Barron, B. J., and Derry, S. (Eds.) Video Research in the Learning Sciences.
Koedinger, K. R. & Nathan, M. J. (2004). The real story behind story problems: Effects of representations on quantitative reasoning. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13(2), 129-164.
Nathan, M. J. & Petrosino, A. J. (2003). Expert blind spot among preservice teachers. American Educational Research Journal. 40(4), 905-928.
Nathan, M. J.& Knuth, E. (2003). A study of whole classroom mathematical discourse and teacher change. Cognition and Instruction. 21(2), 175-207.
Nathan, M. J. & Eisenberg, M. (August, 2003). Computers as physical printers: a new view of educational technology. In L. Mason, S. Andreuzza, B. Arfè and Laura Del Favero (Eds.) European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) 10th Biennial Meeting (pp. 492-493) August 26-30, 2003, Padova, Italy: Cooperativa Libraria Editrice Università di Padova (CLEUP).
Nathan, M. J., Stephens, A. C., Masarik, D. K., Alibali, M. W., & Koedinger, K. R. (October, 2002). Representational fluency in middle school: A classroom based study. In Mewborn , D., Sztajn, P., White, D., Wiegel, H., Bryant, R., & Nooney, K. (Eds.), Proceedings of the twenty-fourth annual meeting of the North American chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education.
Nathan, M. J., Long, S. D., & Alibali, M. W. (2002). The symbol precedence view of mathematical development: A corpus analysis of the rhetorical structure of algebra textbooks. Discourse Processes, 33(1), 1-21.
Nathan, M. J. & Robinson, C. (2001). Considerations of learning and learning research: Revisiting the "Media effects" debate. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 12, 69-88. (formerly Journal of Artificial Intelligence and Education).
Kalchman, M. & Nathan, M. J. (August, 2001). Cognitive theories of development and instruction: Algebraic reasoning in the middle grades. In L. Chen et al. (Eds.), Proceeding of the Third International Conference on Cognitive Science. (pp. 622-626). Beijing, China: USTC Press.
Nathan, M. J., and Koedinger, K. R. (2000). An investigation of teachers' beliefs of students' algebra development. Cognition and Instruction, 18(2), 209-237.
Nathan, M. J., and Koedinger, K. R. (2000). Teachers' and researchers' beliefs about the development of algebraic reasoning. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 31, 168-190.
Nathan, M. J., and Koedinger, K. R. (2000). Moving beyond teachers' intuitive beliefs about algebra learning. Mathematics Teacher, 93, 218-223.
Nathan, M. J., Bransford, J. D., Brophy, S., Garrison, S., Goldman, S. R., Kantor, R. J., Vye, N., J., & Williams, S. (1994). Multimedia journal articles: Promises, pitfalls and recommendations. Educational Media International, 31, 265-273
Nathan, M. J., Kintsch, W., & Young, E. (1992). A theory of algebra word problem comprehension and its implications for the design of computer learning environments. Cognition and Instruction, 9(4). 329-389.
CONTACT Dr. Nathan
Mitchell Nathan
Department of Educational Psychology
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1019 Educational Sciences Building
1025 W. Johnson St.
Madison, WI 53706-1796
mnathan@wisc.edu
Office: 608/262-0831
STAAR Lab: 608/263-0563
Fax: 608/262-0843
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