Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers

About Meg MossTom Bassarear

Tom Bassarear is a professor at Keene State College in New Hampshire. He received his BA from Claremont-McKenna College his MA from Claremont Graduate School and was awarded an Ed.D degree from the University of Massachusetts. Tom's complementary degrees in mathematics and educational psychology have strongly influenced his convictions about education--specifically mathematics education. Before teaching at the college level he taught both middle school and high school mathematics. Since arriving at Keene State College Tom has spent many hours in elementary classrooms observing teachers and working with them in school and workshop settings plus he has taught 4th grade math every day for a semester at a local elementary school. Meg Moss began teaching the mathematics for elementary school teachers course over 25 years ago. In her first full-time teaching position at Treasure Valley Community College she was given a traditional textbook for the Math for Elementary Educators and told that there wasnt much to these classes just to go through the text. This started her on a 25 year journey of exploration and research on how best to teach these courses. Her dissertation was entitled Specialized Understanding of Mathematics: A Study of Prospective Elementary School Teachers. She led a project to create Math for Elementary School Teachers (as well as science courses) and as a result Pellissippi State Community College won the award of Best Practices in Math and Science Education at the Community College level. She has presented at international and domestic conferences and served as consultant to several universities in improving the math preparation of elementary teachers. She is currently serving as a faculty development leader at Western Governors University and exploring the competency-based model and how to create engaging interactive math learning in an online environment. She also teaches Math for Elementary Education courses face to face at area universities. She obtained her M.A. in Math Education from Appalachian State University and her Ph.D. in Math Teacher Education from the University of Tennessee Knoxville. She has taught high school and has spent a considerable amount of time volunteering and supporting student teachers in elementary schools.