Erik Tillema, Faculty Office: ES 3154 Phone: 317-274-6821 Fax: 317-274-6864 Email: etillema@iupui.edu Profile  | Degrees  | Publications  | Awards | Associations | Grant Funding  | Expertise | Courses | Links

Profile
Currently, Erik teaches courses for pre-service elementary teachers. In his classes, he enjoys helping teachers realize the power of their own mathematical thinking, and the potential it holds for helping them teach elementary grade students mathematics.

His current research focuses on middle grade students development of mathematical symbol systems as they make the transition from quantitative to algebraic reasoning.

Finally, as part of a school wide effort to develop and sustain a focus on urban education, he helped to organize a symposium on urban education that will bring together faculty, and current and future educational practitioners to discuss pressing issues in urban education.

Degrees

• Ph.D. student, University of Georgia, Athens Georgia Mathematics Education 2007
• MEd., University of Georgia, Athens Georgia Mathematics Education 2003
• B.A. Earlham College, Richmond Indiana History 1999

Publications

• Izsak, A., Tillema, E. S., & Tunc-Pekkan, Z. (2008). Teaching and learning fraction addition on number lines. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education.
• Tillema, E. S. (2007). The Construction of algebraic symbol systems: Students’ use of notation in evaluating sums of consecutive whole numbers. Paper presented at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Atlanta, GA.
• Tillema, E. S. (2005). Chinese algebra: Using historical problems to think about current curricula. Mathematics Teacher 99(4), p. 238-245. evaluating sums of consecutive whole numbers. Paper presented at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Atlanta, GA.
• Hackenberg, A. J., & Tillema, E. S. (2004, October). Quantitative schemes as a basis for algebraic reasoning and teaching practices. In D. McDougal (Ed.), Proceedings of the Twenty-sixth Annual Meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 302-303). Toronto: OISE/UT

Grant Funding

• National Science Foundation DRK-12 Grant. $450,000 to do research with sixth grade students and pre-service elementary teachers. The grant is in the process of being written and submitted with colleagues from IUPUI and IUB.
• Proffitt Summer Faculty Fellowship. $10,000 award to do research during summer 2008. The goal of the research is to extend my dissertation research.