Educational Background

• PhD, Educational psychology, cognitive development and mathematics, Cornell University
• MS, Mathematics, Marquette University
• BS, Mathematics and chemistry

Teaching Profession
Courses regularly taught
• Curriculum and Teaching of Mathematics
• Practica in Teaching Mathematics
• Philosophical and Theoretical Foundations in the Pedagogy of Mathematics
• Elementary School Mathematics: Content and Methods
• Theories of Learning and Instructional Design

Current Research Interests
• Mathematics education
• Vygotskian psychology
• Mathematical learning and cognition

Selected Publications

 

• Schmittau, J. (2005). The development of algebraic thinking: A Vygotskian perspective. Zentralblatt Fuer Didaktik Der Mathematik (International Review of Mathematics Education), Vol. 37 (1), pp. 16-22

• Schmittau, J. (2004). Uses of Concept Mapping in Teacher Education in Mathematics. In A. J. Canas, J. D. Novak, & F.M. Gonzales (Eds.), Concept Maps, Theory, Methodology, Technology, pp. 571 - 577. Pamplona, Spain: Universidad Publica de Navarra.
• Schmittau, J. & Morris, A. (2004). The development of algebra in Davydov’s elementary curriculum, The Mathematics Educator.
• Schmittau, J. (2004). Vygotskian theory and mathematics education: Resolving the conceptual-procedural dichotomy, European Journal of Psychology of Education.
• Schmittau, J. (2003). Cultural historical theory and mathematics education. In A. Kozulin, B. Gindis, S. Miller, & V. Ageyev (Eds.), Vygotsky’s educational theory in cultural context. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
• Schmittau, J. (2003 ). Beyond constructivism and back to basics: A cultural historical alternative to the teaching of the base ten positional system. In B. Rainforth & J. Kugelmass (Eds.), Curriculum and instruction for all learners: Blending systematic and constructivist approaches in inclusive elementary schools. Baltimore` MD: Brookes Publishing Co.
• Schmittau, J. (1996). Cognitive development. Philosophy of Education: An Encyclopedia, (pp. 85-89). New York: Garland Publishing.
• Schmittau, J. (1994). Rolb geometricheskoga modelirovaniya dlya ponimaniya. [The role of geometric modeling in understanding the essence of multiplication of polynomials]. Uchebnaya deyatelnost y psihicheskoe razvitie shkolnikov: Sbornik nauchnykh trudov [The learning activity and psychological development of school students: Collection of research studies], p. 22-33. Russia: Nizhnevartovsk Pedagogicheskii Institut.
• Schmittau, J. (1993). Connecting mathematical knowledge: A dialectical perspective. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 12, (2), 179-201.
• Schmittau, J. (1993). Vygotskian psychology and dialectical logic: A psychological-epistemological foundation for contemporary pedagogy. The Review of Education, 15, 13-20.

Other Professional Activities

• Editor of the international, interdisciplinary journal Focus on Learning Problems in Mathematics

• Lead Mathematics Educator, Teacher Leader Quality Partnership Project, New York State Department of Education five-year award at $1,200,000, 2004-2008.