Dr. Kathleen Clark
Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education
Phone: (850) 644-8497
Email: kclark@mail.coe.fsu.edu
Dr. Kathleen Clark is interested in how an historical perspective can be used in the teaching of mathematics, as well as how the study of the history of mathematics contributes to the understanding of mathematics. She received her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2006, where she was a doctoral fellow at the Mid-Atlantic Center for Mathematics Teaching and Learning (MAC-MTL). Prior to her graduate work at Maryland, she spent one year on Capitol Hill as an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow. As an Einstein Fellow she assisted in the educational policy efforts of the United States Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
Dr. Clark spent 14 years as a high school mathematics teacher, teaching in a variety of contexts (urban, gifted, and residential environments) in both Florida and Mississippi. While a classroom teacher, she was active in both attending and providing professional development activities, including participation in the Institute for the History of Mathematics in Teaching (IHMT) from 1999 – 2001. She is an active member of a variety of professional organizations, including the American Educational Research Association, the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, the History of Science Society, the Mathematical Association of America, and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Dr. Clark’s additional research interests include planning, implementing, and studying the professional development of in-service teachers; examining the link between teachers’ mathematical knowledge and student achievement; and investigating pre-service mathematics teachers’ reflections on the use of alternative perspectives and pedagogies in teaching mathematics.
Recent Publications
- Clark, K. M., & Dickey, L. (2008). The FSU cuneiform tablet collection:
Using mathematics of the past to inform teaching in the future. Proceedings of HPM 2008:History and pedagogy of mathematics.
- Clark, K. M. (2008). Reflection and revision: First experiences with a
“using history” course. Proceedings of the Fifth European Summer University.
- Clark, K., & Robson, E. (accepted). Ancient accounting in the modern
mathematics classroom, British Society for the History of Mathematics (BSHM)
Bulletin, 23(3).
- Clark, K. M. (accepted). Heeding the call: History of mathematics and the
preparation of secondary mathematics teachers. In F. Arbaugh & P. M. Taylor
(Eds.), Inquiry into mathematics teacher education: Association of mathematics
teacher educators (AMTE) monograph series, Volume 5. Anticipated publication
date: Fall 2008.
- Robson, E., & Clark, K. (under review). The cuneiform tablet collection of
Florida State University. Submitted to Cuneiform Digital Library Journal.
- Schoen, R. C., & Clark, K. M. (under second review). Financial literacy
matters in mathematics: An historical look at U.S. public school curriculum. In
R. N. Rubenstein, B. Reyes, & R. Reyes (Eds.), The k-12 mathematics curriculum:
Issues, trends, and future directions. NCTM seventy-second yearbook (2010).
- Chazan, D., Leavy, A. M., Birky, G., Clark, K. M., Leuke, H. M., McCoy, W.,
& Nyamekye, F. (2007). What NAEP can (and cannot) tell us about performance in
algebra. In P. Kloosterman & F. K. Lester (Eds.), Results and interpretations
from the 2003 mathematics assessment of the National Assessment of Educational
Progress. Reston, VA: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Recent Presentations
- Clark, K. M. (2008, July). The FSU cuneiform tablet collection: Using
mathematics of the past to inform teaching in the future. Paper presented at the
History and Pedagogy of Mathematics Satellite Meeting of ICME-11, Mexico City, Mexico.
- Clark, K. M. (2007, October). A different kind of “rock”: Multiple
representations and figurate numbers of ancient Greece. Presentation given at
the annual Florida Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference, Orlando, FL.
- Clark, K. M. (2007, August). Using history in the teaching of mathematics: A
course for pre-service secondary mathematics teachers. Presentation given at the
annual Mathematical Association of America Summer Meeting (MathFest), San Jose,
CA.
- Clark, K. M. (2007, July). Reflection and revision: A first experience with
a “Using History in the Teaching of Mathematics” course. Presentation given at
the Fifth European Summer University on the History and Epistemology in
Mathematics Education (ESU – 5), Prague, Czech Republic.
- Campbell, P. F., Graeber, A. O., Clark, K. M., Smith, T., Rust, A., Nyamekye,
F., & Conant, D. L. (2007, March). Defining and assessing pedagogical content
knowledge for mathematics. Paper presented at the Research Presession of the
NCTM Annual Meeting and Exhibition, Atlanta, GA.
- Clark, K. M. (2007, January). The history of mathematics: An investigation
of particular course assignments on student conceptions of its use in teaching.
Presentation given at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, New Orleans, LA.
- Clark, K. (2006, May). Using original sources in teaching: One teacher’s
experience with personal study and curricular inclusion. Invited mini-workshop
presentation given at Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach, Oberwolfach,
Germany.
Recent Courses
| MAE 4862/MAE 5865: | Using History in the Teaching of Mathematics |
| MAE 5641 : | Researching Mathematics for Mathematics Education |
| MAE 6939 : | Doctoral Seminar in Mathematics Teacher Education |