MSU hosts international math education conference

November 3, 2015

Conference logoMore than 500 scholars and educators will be at Michigan State University this week for the 37th annual conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, North American chapter (PME-NA).

MSU College of Education faculty members Tonya Bartell and Kristen Bieda were selected to serve as co-chairs of the conference, which runs from Nov. 5-8, 2015 at the Kellogg Center on campus. It is one of the largest conferences ever held at Kellogg.

This year’s theme, “Critical Responses to Enduring Challenges in Mathematics Education,” encourages discussion and reflection on the field’s toughest issues, including:

  • the needs of marginalized populations in school math;
  • teaching as responsive to various conceptions of mathematics;
  • the role of assessment in teaching and learning and
  • the impact of teacher evaluation and high-stakes assessment in teaching

Bartell and Bieda have arranged four plenary sessions, addressing each of these enduring challenges, led by an outstanding set of plenary speakers.

“It’s been thirty years since the conference has been in East Lansing—since 1986,” noted Bieda.

“We are super excited to have it back in East Lansing.” Bartell added, “We are honored to contribute to PME-NA by hosting this conference and look forward to seeing everyone.”

MSU co-sponsors include the CREATE for STEM Institute, the Department of Teacher Education, the Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME) and Connected Mathematics.

Bieda also commented, with a nod to Bartell, “We are grateful for all of the support from CREATE for STEM, the College of Education, PRIME and many volunteers from the mathematics education community who are contributing their time and energy to this conference.”

Visit pmena2015.org for more information, including a mobile conference app.