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Robert Powers

Robert Powers

Professor

School of Mathematical Sciences
Natural and Health Sciences

Contact Information

Phone
970-351-4433
Office
Ross Hall 2230-D

Education

Professional/Academic Experience

Research/Areas of Interest

My primary research focus is examining the practice of secondary mathematics preservice and inservice teachers. I am working to classify tasks used by mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) in mathematics and pedagogy courses focused on preparing teachers to teach mathematics. I am a member of the MODULE(S2) implantation team field testing the Probability and Statistics modules. I actively teach in our undergraduate secondary program, in the MA Mathematics-Teaching Emphasis program and in the Ph.D. program. 

Publications/Creative Works

Recent Publications

Powers, R. A., Lee, A. T., Troudt, M. L., & Novak, J. D. (2021). Student Knowledge of Exponential Functions. Proceedings of the 14th International Congress on Mathematical Education. Shanghai, China. 

Novak, J. D., King, M. M., Powers, R. A., Ruff, A., Lee, A. T., & Naik, S. (2021). Identifying Mathematical Learning Opportunities in a Task as a Missing, Essential Skill of Teaching. Proceedings of the 14th International Congress on Mathematical Education. Shanghai, China 

King, M., Ruff, A., Lee, A., Powers, R., & Novak, J. (2020). Teachers' review of tasks as a tool for examining secondary teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching. In Sacristán, A.I., Cortés-Zavala, J.C. & Ruiz-Arias, P.M. (Ed.), Mathematics Education Across Cultures: Proceedings of the 42th Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 781-789). Mexico: DOI: https:/doi.org/10.51272/pmena.42.2020 

Morgan, M., & Powers, R. (2018). In T.E. Hodges, G. J. Roy, & A. M. Tyminski (Ed.), Traditional versus standards-based grading: A comparison of the teaching practices of secondary mathematics teachers (vol. 40, pp. 1146). Greenville, SC: University of South Carolina & Clemson University.  

Powers, R., Farmer, J. D. (2018). Exploring Mayan numerals. In S. McMillen, E. Friedland, & P. del Prado Hill (Ed.), Integrating Mathematics (e-book). Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. 

Morgan, M., Powers, R. (2016). In M. B. Wood, E. E. Turner, M. Civil, & J. A. Eli (Ed.), Facilitating classroom discourse: A project designed to help preservice teachers implement high-cognitive demand tasks (pp. 955). Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona. 

Recent Presentations

King, M., Ruff, A., Lee, A., Powers, R., & Novak, J. (May 2021). Teachers’ review of tasks as a tool for examining secondary teachers’ mathematical knowledge for teaching. The 42nd Annual meeting of North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. Virtual & Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico.  

Powers, R., & King, M. (February 2021). A guide for categorizing tasks in mathematics education courses. The Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. Virtual. 

King, M., Ruff, A., Powers, R., Lee, A., & Novak, J. (February 2021). Task analysis as a means of investigating mathematics knowledge for teaching. The Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. Virtual. 

Alt, A., & Powers, R. (February 2021).  The new skew: Secondary teachers adapting their practice in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. The Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, Virtual. 

Morgan, M., & Powers, R. (February 2019). Standards-based grading and its implications for mathematics teacher preparation and professional development. The Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators. Orlando, FL. 

Recent Grant Work

2015 – 2020: Collaborative Research: Initiating a Foundational Research Model for Secondary Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (INFORMS MKT), researcher 

2014 – 2017: Supporting Understanding through Meaningful Mathematical Instructional Tasks (SUMMIT), Colorado MSP, PI of Subcontract and instructor 


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