Dr. Robert Schoen is an associate professor of mathematics education in the School of Teacher Education and the associate director of the Florida Center for Research in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (FCR-STEM) at the Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University. Through his research, he seeks answers to the question, “How can we improve mathematics teaching and learning for all students?” In search of answers, he has designed and directed more than one-dozen large-scale, randomized-controlled trials of educational interventions designed to improve teaching and learning in mathematics. Most of those interventions focus on the role of the teacher by means of increasing teachers’ professional capacity.
Through these research activities, Dr. Schoen has engaged in the development and validation of several original assessment instruments for use in mathematics education research and evaluation, including the Beliefs about Mathematics Teaching and Learning (B-MTL) questionnaire and several forms of the Knowledge for Teaching Early Elementary Mathematics (K-TEEM) test, the Teacher Ability to Predict Student Success (TAPSS) assessment, the Math Anxiety Scale for Teachers (MAST), the Elementary Mathematics Student Assessment (EMSA) for grades K–5 students, and the Mathematics Performance and Cognition (MPAC) interview.
Dr. Schoen’s research has been supported by the Helios Education Foundation, the Florida Department of Education, and the U. S. Department of Education’s Effective Educator Development (EED) program and Institute of Education Sciences (IES). His writing has been published in national and international peer-reviewed journals, including the Elementary School Journal, For the Learning of Mathematics, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, AERA Open, Cogent Education Open Access, the International Journal for Technology in Mathematics Education, Journal of Experimental Education, Contemporary Educational Psychology, Teaching Children Mathematics, and Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School. He has also co-authored many research reports that are made available through Diginole, FSU’s Research Repository.
Dr. Schoen has taught mathematics at the secondary and postsecondary levels. He served as the mathematics specialist in the Office of Math and Science at the Florida Department of Education for two years before spending 11 years as a full-time researcher at the Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University. He received the Florida Mathematics Teacher Educator of the Year award from the Florida Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, the Kenneth Kidd Mathematics Educator of the Year award from the Florida Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the Robert M. Gagne Research Award from the Florida State University College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences.
Dr. Schoen earned his undergraduate degrees in mathematics and atmospheric science from the University of North Carolina at Asheville. He earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in mathematics education from Florida State University.
Dr. Schoen is the founder and director of Teaching is Problem Solving, a website dedicated to sharing ideas about teaching with a focus on mathematics. His personal website serves as a clearinghouse for products and publications that have resulted from his research activities.
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