Thomas Post

I have taught courses and written materials focused on mathematics methods, research, manipulative materials, remedial instruction, and the psychology of mathematical conceptual development. I have conducted research dealing with mathematical learning and concept development. I am interested in the relationship between theoretically based instructional activities, particularly those that utilize manipulative materials, and the nature of the resulting student conceptual development.

My research interests have focused on middle grades mathematics and in particular on the teaching and learning of rational number concepts. I have been co-principal investigator (1979–present) of the Rational Number Project, an NSF-supported effort designed to gain information about the cognitive structures children use to learn rational number concepts and to investigate the role of rational number concepts in the development of proportional reasoning skills. The current and sixth project is designed to develop middle-grade teacher enhancement materials that integrate mathematical, psychological, and pedagogical content knowledge. These materials were implemented with a group of middle grade teachers as they used new NSF mathematical curricula with their students. The Rational Number Project is the longest lasting cooperative multi-university research project in the history of mathematics education, boasting several books and over 80 publications.

In the area of teacher development, I received another NSF grant in 1997. The Minneapolis and St. Paul Merging to Achieve Standards Project involves 24 Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area K–12 school districts. Our goal is to have over 1100 teachers, representing all or nearly all grade 7–12 mathematics teachers in these districts, teaching a standards-based curriculum to very diverse populations of students by 2001. We want to create a critical mass and an infrastructure for the development of a systemic implementation of standards based mathematics curricula in other school districts in the Greater Minneapolis/St. Paul area and beyond.