Heaton elected co-chair of AERA research group

Ruth Heaton
Ruth Heaton

Ruth Heaton, Gilmartin Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Teacher Education, has been elected to a two-year term as co-chair of the Research in Mathematics Education special interest group (SIG) of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Her term begins following the 2016 AERA Annual Meeting, April 8-12.

Co-chairing responsibilities include organizing the SIG conference programs at both the AERA national conference and the Research Pre-session of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) national conference. She’ll also help coordinate AERA award programs in the SIG for an early career publication award and a senior scholar award.

“These are the two major national research organizations for math education,” said Heaton about AERA and NCTM. “It’s a real honor to support and set up a program for the top researchers in the field. It’s a way to provide leadership and service, and I’m sure I’ll learn a lot from reading the presentation proposals of other researchers and the award nominations.”

The AERA Research in Mathematics Education SIG has approximately 500 members who are mainly math education researchers in higher education. Heaton says she’s also looking forward to learning some inside information about what topics the leaders in the field are studying and what methodologies are guiding their research.

Heaton has been a member of AERA since 1992 when she was a doctoral student.