Lucia Flevares, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Contact Info:

• E-mail: flevares.1@osu.edu
• Office: 210C Arps Hall
• Phone: (614) 247-4270
• Fax: (614) 292-7695

Mailing Address:

• 1945 N. High St.
• Columbus OH 43210-1177

Biographical Information

Lucia Flevares is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Mathematics Education. She earned her B.A. in Psychology from the University of Chicago, an M. A. in Educational Psychology and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Since completion of her doctorate, she has served as a visiting professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has focused her research on issues in teaching and learning elementary mathematics.

Education

• 2004 Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Educational Psychology
• 2000 M.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Educational Psychology
• 1993 B.A., University of Chicago, Psychology

Previous Appointments

Postdoctoral Fellow and visiting professor, 2004-2005, Research and Revision of the TIMS/Math Trailblazers Elementary Mathematics Curriculum", the University of Illinois at Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, funded by the National Science Foundation

Research Biography

From my background in educational psychology, I explore issues of cognition and cognitive development within early childhood and elementary mathematics teaching and learning. In my research I investigate mathematical processes in whole class settings and for individual learners. At the individual level, I explore children's mathematical understanding, abilities and problem solving. I am especially interested in the development children's repertoire of mathematical representations and communication, including mathematical vocabulary and terminology and their use and understanding of multiple representations.

Within whole-class settings, I examine mathematical processes, including the teacher's modeling with mathematical representations and their facilitation of children's cognitive participation with the mathematics through classroom communication and discourse, representation use, and problem-solving activities. I am interested in teachers' instruction with various forms of mathematical communication and representation and thus have begun to study the use of children's literature in elementary mathematics.

For both individual learners and whole-class settings, my interests also include curriculum adoption and fundamental mathematics topics, especially number topics such as place-value numeration and fractions.

Finally, for both the individual and whole class, I have studied and am interested in cross-cultural investigations into elementary mathematics instruction for how they can illuminate variations in methods and practices of instruction. For example, I am completing analyses on a project studying students' mathematical errors in U.S. and Chinese elementary lessons.

Activities and Honors

• Associated faculty with the Mathematics Coaching Project
• 2006 Instructor for "OSU Early Childhood Science and Mathematics Institute for Improving Instructional Practice: Early Childhood Mathematics Institute on Number Sense," funded by the Ohio Board of Regents
  
• 2003 Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellowship

Selected Publications

• Flevares, L. M. & Perry, M. (2001). How many do you see? Teachers' use of multiple representations in place-value instruction. Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 330 - 345.
• Alibali, M. A., Flevares, L. M., & Goldin-Meadow (1997). Assessing knowledge conveyed in gesture: Do teachers have the upper hand? Journal of Educational Psychology, 89, 183 - 193.
• Schleppenbach, M. R., Flevares, L. M., Sims, L., & Perry, M. (in press). Teacher Responses to Student Mistakes in Chinese and U.S. Classrooms. Elementary School Journal.

Courses Taught

• Education Teaching & Learning 708: Teaching and Learning of Mathematics in Grades PreK-3, Part II
• Education Teaching & Learning 713: Teaching and Learning of Mathematics in Grades PreK-3, Part II
• Education Teaching & Learning 812: Mathematics in Elementary Schools
• Education Teaching & Learning 871: Children's Cognition

Suggested Online Resources for P-12 Teachers

• Ohio Resource Center: Mathematics
• Resources for Early Childhood Mathematics Includes lessons/activities,games, research/reference materials, and assessment resources.
• The Math Forum at Drexel Includes classroom activities (lesson plans, center ideas, problems of the day, etc.), resources for teachers, including a forum to exchange ideas with other teachers, and "Ask Dr. Math," a forum for students or classrooms to submit their questions to mathematicians.
• National Library of Virtual Manipulatives Online activities for many mathematical topics (Note that activities may work best as supplements to classroom activities and that students may need assistance with the procedures of the activities.)
• NCTM: Illuminations Activities, lessons, standards, and links.