2020 Susan Gay Travel Scholarship Recipient
Andrew Gatza
Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis
Biography
Andrew Gatza is a former middle school mathematics teacher and will graduate in May 2020 with Ph.D.’s in Mathematics Education at Indiana University—Bloomington and Urban Education Studies at Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). He has studied mathematical teaching and learning as well as issues of equity and systems of power and oppression, and was awarded the 2018-2019 Indiana University Wells Graduate Fellowship, which invests in an awardee who demonstrates a strong commitment to civic leadership and advocacy. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals and has presented at numerous national and international conferences, including AERA, NCTM, PME-NA, TODOS: Mathematics for All, ICME, and now AMTE.
Currently, he teaches mathematics methods and field experience courses with pre-service elementary education teachers at Indiana University—Bloomington as well as a teaching math to diverse learners course for K-12 in-service teachers in the mathematics education master’s program at Purdue University—West Lafayette. As a mathematics teacher educator, his goal is to foster teacher dispositions that allow students’ voices, knowledge, and experiences to be at the center of mathematics teaching and learning interactions to re-humanize mathematics education experiences, particularly for historically marginatized youth. He believes a three-pronged focus on children’s mathematics, issues of identity, and school context is necessary in this endeavor.
The focus of his dissertation is to examine the mutually supportive nature of mathematical learning—regarding quadratic relationships and probability—and critical race consciousness development.
His work has only been possible through the support and encouragement of faculty mentors Dr. Erik Tillema, Dr. Crystal Morton, Dr. Craig Willey, Dr. Dionne Cross Francis, and Dr. Monica Medina.