Statistics & data science are growing, rapidly evolving, and increasingly important for an informed citizenry in a data-saturated world. In this dissertation, I address two central questions: (1) who is taking statistics? and (2) what are statistics courses teaching? I estimate that 920,000 US students take statistics in high school each year,…

Secondary mathematics pre-service teachers (PSTs) are required to take university-level mathematics content courses to develop their mathematical content knowledge. Although PSTs' experiences as students play a major role in the types of teachers they become, there is limited research investigating the experiences of PSTs engaging in these…

We describe the design and implementation of lessons in undergraduate abstract algebra that integrate applications to teaching high school mathematics. Each lesson consists of a pre-activity, class activity, homework set, assessment questions and detailed instructor notes. The included applications intend to bridge advanced mathematics concepts to…

In an increasingly technological world, developing basic math skills is crucial. Headlines regularly be-moan the international ranking of American students on math proficiency, and students from low-income families do worse in math than their more affluent peers. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment in occupations…

In the deconstruction of the California state standards for trigonometry, linear algebra and mathematical analysis for the Cal-PASS (California Partnership for Achieving Student Success) Content Standards Deconstruction projects, it became apparent that terms were used for which no definition was given. The San Diego Central Cal-PASS Math…

This study examined the validity of the SAT for predicting performance in first-year English and mathematics courses. Results reveal a significant positive relationship between SAT scores and course grades, with slightly higher correlations for mathematics courses compared to English courses. Correlations were estimated by student characteristics…