Rob Ely

I study student reasoning in mathematics, particularly with (a) the infinitesimal and infinite in calculus, (b) generic example arguments, and (c) algebraic notation, and occasionally how this relates to historical reasoning in mathematics. Recently I have started researching mathematical play among undergraduates.

• Playful Math (PI) (collaboration with Amy Ellis, U of Georgia) - A $1.5 million NSF EHR-Core grant proposal (in review), building on one-year pilot grants at UI and UGA. The goal is to study what characterized mathematical play as a disciplinary practice among mathematicians, how to foster mathematical play in algebra and calculus classrooms, and what its effects are on student knowledge, affect, and disposition.
• Longitudinal Learning of Viable Argument in Mathematics for Adolescents (LLAMA) (PI) - A $3 million NSF DRK-12 Grant (2017-2022) project studying the implementation of viable argumentation in Grade 8 classrooms. The goal has been to train two cohorts of teachers from Idaho, Washington, and Montana to incorporate LLAMA's 12 conceptual pillars of viable argumentation in their classroom instruction, and to study the effect on their students' knowledge of mathematical argumentation. (https://sites.google.com/view/llama-project/) 
• Making Mathematics Reasoning Explicit (MMRE) - (Co-PI) This was a 5-year, $5 million, NSF Math Science Partnership Grant (2011-2017) collaboration between University of Idaho, Washington State University and a consortium of rural districts in eastern Washington and northern Idaho. The goal is to develop teacher leaders in Grades 4-12 who promote mathematical reasoning, generalization, and justification in their classrooms, schools, and districts.