Who We Are
Amy Hackenberg, Associate Professor
Indiana University, Bloomington
Amy Hackenberg taught middle and high school students for 9 years in Los Angeles and Chicago prior to earning her PhD in mathematics education from the University of Georgia. She is deeply committed to communicating mathematically with a wide range of thinkers at all grade levels, but she especially loves middle grades students. She does research on how middle grades students learn mathematics, on relationships between mathematics teachers and students, and on how to differentiate mathematics instruction. She and her husband live in Bloomington and love raising their son and daughter.
Mi Yeon Lee, Assistant Professor
Arizona State University
Mi Yeon Lee taught elementary school students for 5 years in Seoul, South Korea prior to earning her PhD in mathematics education from Indiana University. She is currently an assistant professor of mathematics education at Arizona State University. She teaches mathematics content and elementary math methods courses. She is interested in pre-service elementary teacher education, k-8 students’ fractional and algebraic reasoning, and differentiated mathematics instruction.
Fetiye Aydeniz, Postdoctoral Researcher
Indiana University, Bloomington
Fetiye Aydeniz earned her master's degree in mathematics education in Turkey. She taught math at the high school level until coming to Indiana University. She earned her PhD in mathematics education with a minor in inquiry methodology from Indiana University in 2018. Her research interests include pre-service teachers' distributive and proportional reasoning, and middle school students' fractional and algebraic reasoning. She loves being in Bloomington, researching in the US, and learning about other cultures around the world in order to become a well-rounded person.
Mark Creager, Assistant Professor
University of Southern Indiana, Evansville
Mark Creager taught high school mathematics for 5 years and in Indiana before earning his PhD from Indiana University. Currently he is an assistant professor of mathematics education at the University of Southern Indiana where he teaches content and methods courses for elementary and secondary education majors. His research interests include studying how teachers develop mathematical knowledge for teaching, especially in the area of reasoning and proof, and how students learn reasoning and proof. He lives in Evansville, Indiana with his wife and two young children.
Ayfer Eker
Indiana University, Bloomington
Ayfer Eker taught elementary and middle school mathematics in Turkey prior to earning her master's degree in mathematics education from Boston University. She earned her PhD in Mathematics Education from Indiana University in 2018. Her research interests are elementary and middle school student learning, teacher education & beliefs and methods for differentiating instruction in math classrooms. She is excited about having an opportunity to explore the relationships between teacher instruction & beliefs and student learning within a differentiated instruction framework during the course of this project.
Robin Jones, Graduate Student
Indiana University, Bloomington
Robin Jones is currently a PhD student at Indiana University, studying mathematics education. Before coming to Indiana she taught middle school mathematics for 7 years in California and Minnesota and spent 6 years as a statistician in Washington, DC. Her current research interests include student engagement in the social and mathematical life of the classroom. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband and two children.
Serife Sevis, Assistant Professor
Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
Serife Sevis is currently teaching in the Department of Mathematics and Science Education at Middle East Technical University. She received her doctoral degree in the Mathematics Education Program at Indiana University with a minor degree in Inquiry Methodology. Her main research focus is mathematics teacher education with a particular interest in models-and-modeling perspective. She investigates the problem-solving process of a wide range of learners through modeling perspective and is involved in projects investigating elementary and middle school students' and teachers' mathematical thinking. She believes that communication with and about mathematics with different learners is her main resource as a researcher and a teacher educator.
Rebecca Borowski, Doctoral Candidate
Indiana University, Bloomington
Rebecca Borowski is currently a PhD candidate at Indiana University, studying mathematics education with a minor in inquiry methodology. Before coming to IU she taught elementary school for 11 years in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She has taught Kindergarten, 1st, and 5th grades and also worked as an instructional coach. Her research interests include elementary teacher education and student thinking about quantities and measurement. She lives in Bloomington and enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter.
Sukanya (Pai) Suksak, Doctoral Candidate
Indiana University, Bloomington
Pai Suksak is a Doctoral Candidate in Mathematics Education at IU Bloomington. Before coming to IU she spent a year as a pre-service teacher teaching middle school algebra at Lorbeer Middle School in Pomona, California. Her research interests include different teaching approaches in mathematics, student cognitive thinking, equity, and student motivation. She enjoys traveling, photography, and exercising.
Rob Matyska, Graduate Student
Indiana University, Bloomington
Rob Matyska is currently a PhD student at Indiana University, focusing on Mathematics Education with minors in Learning Science and Teacher Education. He brings a wide range of teaching experiences withhim, including secondary, university-level, and adult education settings in both rural and urban environments. His research interests include issues of equity and achievement as wellas teaching and learning, all with an eye towards increasing mathematical understanding in middle-level and elementary learners.
Sharon Hoffman, Graduate Student
Indiana University Bloomington
Sharon Hoffman was an electrical engineer for the aerospace industry. Last year, she earned her master's degree in mathematics from Purdue University. She taught math and was Lead Instructor for YouthBuild Indy until coming to Indiana University. Now she is a doctoral student in mathematics education with a minor in Inquiry Methodology. Her research interests include out-of-school, developmental math students, teacher support and alternative inquiry methods. She loves canoeing, mountain biking, fishing and hanging around with friends and family.
