Arthur Powell

Dr. Arthur B. Powell is Professor in the Department of Urban Education at Rutgers-Newark. He is currently working on two projects. The first is called, “Executive Functions + Mathematics.” He is working with middle school teachers and students in Newark, NJ and Vista, CA. The aim of this project is to provide opportunities for online collaboration through a portal (Virtual Math Team developed by Drexel University), and to engage in problem solving tasks that will engage students in three different topic areas: proportional reasoning, algebra & geometry – in order to help them attain greater identification with Mathematics and help them work collaboratively on problem solving tasks. Currently, the project is are providing online professional development to teachers.

The second is a theoretical project on differences between different historical and philosophical approaches to rational numbers and its implications for youth. Overall, Dr. Powell's research interests focus on writing and mathematics learning; ethnomathematics; development of mathematical ideas, reasoning, and heuristics; teacher professional development in teaching mathematics; and collaborative problem solving in mathematics with technology.  He also directs the Research Group on Communication, Technology, and Mathematics Learning and its instructional project, eMath.