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1. THEORIZING OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN AS A BASIS FOR INCLUSIVE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

   Kress, Nancy; Duran_Oliva, Pablo (August 2025, Psychology of Mathematics Education)

   Cornejo, C; Felmer, P; Gómez, D_M; Dartnell, P; Araya, P; Peri, A; Randolph, V (Ed.)

   In this theoretical essay we propose the adoption of a single definition for Opportunities to Learn (OtL), and we theorize how OtL provides a basis for inclusive mathematics education. We begin by providing our theoretical framework in which we apply a critical perspective that serves to shift attention toward educational and societal systems, structures, resources and power dynamics and away from individuals, their families and communities as the drivers of educational achievement. We describe numerous common ways that OtL has been used, and we propose the adoption of a single robust definition of OtL. We then theorize how this specific definition supports a precise conceptualization of inclusive mathematics education. 

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2. THEORIZING OPPORTUNITIES TO LEARN AS A BASIS FOR INCLUSIVE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

   Kress, N; Duran_Oliva, P (August 2025, Psychology of Mathematics Education)

   Cornejo, C; Felmer, P; Gómez, D_M; Dartnell, P; Araya, P; Peri, A; Randolph, V (Ed.)

   In this theoretical essay we propose the adoption of a single definition for Opportunities to Learn (OtL), and we theorize how OtL provides a basis for inclusive mathematics education. We begin by providing our theoretical framework in which we apply a critical perspective that serves to shift attention toward educational and societal systems, structures, resources and power dynamics and away from individuals, their families and communities as the drivers of educational achievement. We describe numerous common ways that OtL has been used, and we propose the adoption of a single robust definition of OtL. We then theorize how this specific definition supports a precise conceptualization of inclusive mathematics education. 

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3. Craftland is Mathland: Mathematical insight and the generative role of fiber crafts in maker education

   https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2022.1029175  

   Peppler, Kylie; Keune, Anna; Thompson, Naomi; Saxena, Pooja (November 2022, Frontiers in Education)

   There is tremendous excitement around makerspaces for deepening and enriching curricula across subjects, as well as engaging traditionally marginalized learners in new ways. To address the lack of translation of maker education projects to mathematics learning, we propose that educators aspire to create a “Mathland” when designing maker educational activities. Mathlands are environments envisioned by Seymour Papert where mathematics are learned alongside ways of doing mathematics in self-selected contexts, leading to an epistemology and natural language of mathematics that pervades all experiences. To imagine a Mathland where women’s participation in mathematics is lifelong and lifewide, we explore traditionally female-dominated fiber crafts where long-term engagement, mathematics, and heritage intersect. As part of a longitudinal embedded multi-year ethnographic study, we conducted cohort analyses as well as grounded, iterative, and thematic coding of semi-structured interview data, augmented with crafting artifacts from 65 adult fiber crafters. Using qualitative analytical techniques, we asked: How does math occur in craft? How do crafters observe the intersection between math and craft in process? Fiber crafts were found to present a “Mathland,” a lifelong context for immersive math engagement. We present crafters’ math insights in the craft, as well as multiple aspects of the crafts and surrounding communities that supported the crafters in sustaining their engagement with mathematics throughout their lifetime. This study has implications for the design of inclusive and lifelong maker educational environments for mathematics learning. 

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4. Defining and delivering “equity” in an RPP

   Hadad, R.; Ryoo, J.J.; Flapan, J.; Kong, S. (January 2021, Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT))

   null (Ed.)

   Computer science (CS) has the potential to positively impact the economic well-being of those who pursue it, and the lives of those who benefit from its innovations. Yet, large CS learning opportunity gaps exist for students from historically underrepresented populations. The Computer Science for All (CS for All) movement has brought nationwide attention to these inequities in CS education. More recently, financial support for research-practice partnerships (RPPs) has increased to address these disparities because such collaborations can yield more relevant research for immediate educational/practical application. However, for initiatives to effectively engage in equity-focused initiatives toward making computing inclusive, partnership members need to begin with a shared definition of equity to which all are accountable. This poster takes a critical look at the development of a collaboratively developed definition of equity and its application in a CS for All RPP of university researchers and administrators from local education agencies across the state of California. Details are shared about how the RPP collectively defined equity and how that definition evolved and informed the larger project’s work with school administrators/educators. 

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5. Toward a productive definition of Technology in science and STEM education

   Ellis, J. A.; Wieselmann, J. R.; Sivaraj, R.; Roehrig, G. H.; Dare, E. A.; & Ring-Whalen, E. A. (March 2020, Contemporary issues in technology and teacher education)

   The lack of a definition of the T in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) acronym is pervasive, and it is often the teachers of STEM disciplines who inherit the task of defining the role of technology within their K-12 classrooms. These definitions often vary significantly, and they have profound implications for curricular and instructional goals within science and STEM classrooms. This theoretical paper summarizes of technology initiatives across science and STEM education from the past 30 years to present perspectives on the role of technology in science-focused STEM education. The most prominent perspectives describe technology as the following: (a) vocational education, industrial arts, or the product of engineering, (b) educational or instructional technology, (c) computing or computational thinking, and (d) the tools and practices used by practitioners of science, mathematics, and engineering. We have identified the fourth perspective as the most salient with respect to K-12 science and STEM education. This particular perspective is in many ways compatible with the other three perspectives, but this depends heavily on the beliefs, prior experiences, and instructional goals of teachers who use technology in their science or STEM classroom. 

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