Research

2010-2011 NSP undergraduate research assistants Maggie Blackburn, Christina Mazza, and Josh Fahs present their research at the 2011 Celebration of Learning. Their work was featured in Augustana Magazine as an example of Augie Choice opportunities, and was also showcased in a Quad-City Times series on educational technology.

Research (2011)

Mike Egan

Assistant Professor of Education

This page highlights my Research and Scholarship activities since the 2009 pre-tenure review. Research-related activities that occurred prior to the 2009 review are found here.

Number Sense Project (NSP)

Over the past two years the NSP has adhered to its original objectives of (1) providing purposeful, individualized instruction to Longfellow’s kindergarteners, and (2) enhancing the elementary teacher education program at Augustana. New developments since 2009 include:

· Each of the six 2009-2010 undergraduate assistants produced case studies related to their work and presented them at the 2010 Celebration of Learning. Their papers are available on the Publications page of the NSP website.

· Two of six 2009-2010 assistants (Julie Jordan and Laura Valentine) applied for and won Augustana summer research fellowships. Randy Hengst and I directed their work over the summer of 2010, and they presented their research papers at the 2010 Illinois Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ICTM) conference. Julie’s paper focused on meeting the needs of English Language Learners, while Laura investigated accommodations for exceptional learners.

· Randy and I presented a research paper at the 2010 meeting of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference in Denver. Inclusion in the ISTE conference is competitive: only 47% of research paper proposals made the program.

· Prior to the 2010-2011 school year I applied for and secured “Augie Choice Approved Experience” status for the NSP. Three students accessed Augie Choice funding in 2010-2011, and three students have done so in 2011-2012 (one additional student has chosen to be a full participant in the NSP this year, but has already used her Augie Choice allotment and therefore will participate voluntarily).

· The three 2010-2011 participants investigated the relative merits of technological teaching tools and concrete manipulatives in promoting early childhood number sense. Randy and I directed the development of their paper, and it was presented at the 2011 Augustana Celebration of Learning and at the 2011 ICTM conference.

· Randy and I have submitted a co-authored manuscript to the peer-reviewed journal Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITE). The paper has been reviewed and currently holds “Accepted with Revisions” status. The revisions will be completed in the winter of 2011-2012 with goal of earning full acceptance. Only 29% of article submissions to CITE are accepted.

· More details about the Number Sense Project, including access to the related software and mobile apps, is available at augustana.edu/numbersense.

Additional Scholarly Expression

· My chapter “Teaching Elementary Mathematics: Music and Math” was published in Teaching Elementary Music: Integrative Connections Between Music and Other Subjects, edited by Nicole Robinson, Suzanne Hall, and Fred Spano and published by Kendall Hunt in 2010.

· Fostering Geometric Thinking: A Guide for Teachers, Grades 5-10, a book I co-authored with Mark Driscoll, Rachel Wing DiMatteo and Johannah Nikula that was originally published by Heinemann in 2007, underwent a 2nd printing in May 2010 and a 3rd printing in February 2011.