David Slavit

Email: dslavit@wsu.edu

Greetings. My name is David Slavit, an Associate Professor in both the Department of Teaching and Learning and the Department of Mathematics at Washington State University Vancouver. Born and raised in Crystal City, Missouri, I am the son of a glassworker and the youngest of eight children. Fortunately, my career path has supported my desires to travel as well as investigate how we, as humans, think, interact, and learn.

After receiving my B.S.ed. in Mathematics Education and M.A. in Mathematics from the University of Missouri, I began teaching at Lyon Colege, formerly known as Arkansas College. Upon receiving a sabbatical, I enrolled at the University of Delaware, home of the Fightin' Blue Hens, and obtained my Ph.D in Mathematics Education under Jim Hiebert.

Research Interests

Through numerous federally-funded grants and the initiation of school-university partnerships, I have recently transformed my primary professional focus into analyzing teacher development at the classroom, building, and district levels.  My perspective stems from the belief that teaching involves more than the employment of professional knowledge constructed, formalized, and conveyed by experts (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999).  Sharing Judith Warren Little’s (2003) “optimistic premise of professional community”, my work seeks to go beyond investigations into the acquisition of new knowledge and understand teacher change as a complex process that requires an interactive, communal environment that supports reflection, discourse, and data-based inquiry (Fullan, 1993, 1999; Loucks-Horsley, Hewson, Love, & Stiles, 1998).   I also have a body of research in the area of student learning, particularly in regard to students' development of algebraic reasoning out of arithmetic thought processes. I have also investigated the effects of technology on teaching and learning at the secondary and postsecondary levels, with a particular emphasis on graphing calculators and web-based activities.

Publications

Below are selected references for some publications relating to my most recent work. I have also included titles of papers that are currently under submission. Please contact me if you are interested in any of these works (use email icon at the top of the page).  * denotes shared first-authorship.

Nelson, Tamara, Slavit, David, Perkins, Martha, & Hathorn, Tom (in press).  A culture of collaborative inquiry: Learning to develop and support professional learning communities.  Teachers College Record, 110(4). To appear April 2008.

Slavit, David* & Nelson, Tamara* (in press).  Supported teacher collaborative inquiry.  Teacher Education Quarterly.

Slavit, David & Ernst-Slavit, Gisela (in press).  Two for one: Teaching mathematics and English to English language learners.  Middle School Journal.. To appear in 2007.

Slavit, David* & Ernst-Slavit, Gisela* (in press). Educational reform, mathematics, and English language learners:  Meeting the needs of all students.  Multicultural Education.  To appear in 2007.

Nelson, Tamara & Slavit, David (2007).  Collaborative inquiry amongst science and mathematics teachers in the U.S.A.: Professional learning experiences through cross-grade, cross-discipline dialogue.  Journal of Inservice Education, 33(1), 23-29.

Slavit, David & Nelson, Tamara (2006).  Dialogic teacher change:  Two cases of supported collaborative inquiry. Working Papers on Culture, Education and Human Development, 2(2) Click here for this article.

Slavit, David (2006).  Uncovering algebra:  Sense making and property noticing. The Mathematics Educator, 16(2) 4-13.

Brink, Beverly, Curley, Janet, & Slavit, David (2004).  Updating practice:  A developmental approach to implementing an instructional technology component in Content Area Reading. Journal of Reading Education, 29(2), 11-22.

Sjoberg, Craig, David Slavit, & Terry Coon (2004). Writing Prompts and Modeling that Support Mathematical Development and Connections. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 9(9), 490-493.

Slavit, David, Richard Sawyer, and Janet Curley (2003). Filling Your PLATE: A Professional Development Model for Teaching with Technology. TechTrends, 47(4). http://www.aect.org/Intranet/Publications/TechTrends/4704.asp

Roth-McDuffie, Amy, and Slavit, David (2003). Utilizing Online Discussion to Support Reflection and Challenge Beliefs in Elementary Mathematics Methods Classrooms. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education (CITTE), 2(4). http://www.citejournal.org/vol2/iss4/mathematics/article1.cfm

Slavit, David, LoFaro, Tom, and Cooper, Kevin (2002). The use of simulations in developing relational understandings of the solutions of differential equations. School Science and Mathematics, 102(8), 380-390.

Slavit, David (2002). Expanding Classroom Discussion with an Online Medium. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 10(3), 407-422.

Slavit, David (2001). Revisiting a common factoring pattern. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 6(6), 378-381.

Slavit, David and Yeidel, Joshua (2000). Inserting the Web into Precalculus. In David G. Brown (Ed.), Interactive Learning: Vignettes from America's Most Wired Campuses (84-87). Anker: Bolton, MA.

Slavit, David & Yeidel, Joshua (1999). Using web-based materials in large-scale precalculus instruction. International Journal of Computers for Mathematical Learning, 4(1), 27-50.

Slavit, David (1999). The role of operation sense in transitions from arithmetic to algebraic thought. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 37(3), 251-274.

Slavit, David (1999). Problem solving and world wide help. Ohio Journal of School Mathematics, 30, 17-20.

Slavit, David (1999). Three women¹s understanding of function in a precalculus course integrated with the graphing calculator. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 17(3), 355-372.

Slavit, David (1998). Above and beyond AAA: Similarity and congruence of polygons. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 3(4), 276-280.

Slavit, David (1997). An alternate route to the reification of function. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 33(3), 259-281.

Slavit, David (1997). Learning as sense making and property noticing. In J.A. Dossey, J.O. Swafford, M. Parmantie, & A.E. Dossey (Eds.) Proceedings of 19th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 1), 649-656. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse.

Slavit, David (1996). Graphing calculators in a "hybrid" Algebra II classroom. For the Learning of Mathematics, 16(1), 9-14.

Slavit, David (1995). Small groups leading to big groups. Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies (PRIMUS), 5(4), 368-377.

Slavit, David (1995). A Growth-Oriented Route to the Reification of Function. In D.T. Owens, M.K. Reed, & G.M. Millsaps (Eds.) Proceedings of 17th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 1), 284-290. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse.

Slavit, David (1995). Operational Sense in First Grade Addition. In D.T. Owens, M.K. Reed, & G.M. Millsaps (Eds.) Proceedings of 17th Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 2), 331-337. Columbus, OH: ERIC Clearinghouse.

Slavit, David (1995). William Brownell: A response to Nel Noddings (Letter to the Editor). Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 26(3), 291.

Selected Externally-Funded Projects

Nelson, Tamara, David Slavit, & Anne Kennedy.  A study of professional learning communities amongst secondary science and mathematics teachers:  Changes, support systems, and student learning.  National Science Foundation, Grant No. ESI-0554579.  March, 2006 – June, 2010 ($1,918,277 funded).

Slavit, David, & Tamara Nelson.  Partnership for Reform in Secondary Science and Mathematics (PRISSM).  U.S Department of Education Title IIB, Mathematics Science Partnership Program.  June, 2004 - September, 2007 ($1,400,000 funded).

Slavit, David & Tamara Nelson.  Improving Instruction Through Exemplars in Math and Science (IITEMS).  Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.  February, 2003 – August, 2003. ($90,739, funded).

Slavit, David & Anne Kennedy.  The Gorge Math Project:  Next Steps.  Washington State Higher Education Professional Development Partnership Grant Program.  June, 2003 – June, 2004.  ($134,307, funded).

Kennedy, Anne, Brian Tissot, & David Slavit.  Planning for Reform in Secondary Science and Mathematics (PRISSM).  National Science Foundation.  January, 2000 – July, 2002 ($50,215, funded).

Slavit, David, & Richard Sawyer.  Project TEMPLATE:  Technology Education Matters:  Plan for Learning And Teaching with Educational technology.  Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology Grants, U.S. Department of Education.  August, 1999 – August, 2000 ($175,000, funded).

Sawyer, Richard & David Slavit.  Research and Instructional Technology Laboratory.  Omnibus Equipment Funds, State of Washington.  August, 1999 - August, 2000 ($24,000, funded).

Cooper, Kevin, Tom LoFaro, Ray Huffaker, Ron Poshusta, and David Slavit.  IDEA:  Internet Differential Equations Activities, National Science Foundation.  April, 1998 - March, 2000 ($119,141, funded).

Things That Are Useful And/Or I Like

Yahoo! is my favorite search engine for the web.

Precalculus activities, coauthored with Joshua Yeidel, that focus on application and functional properties can be found at this site.

IDEA is a very interesting undergraduate mathematics instruction project centered on applications of differential equations.

MathSciNet. contains all you need to know about the mathematics profession.

Feeling down? Click on either picture.

Need some mathematical humor? Go to this site.

Gisela Ernst-Slavit's Digital Domain