Educational Psychology

Mitchell Nathan

Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, Learning Sciences Area

mnathan@wisc.edu


964A Educational Sciences

1025 West Johnson Street

Madison, WI 53706-1706

Nathan, Mitchell

      Download CV   https://www.embodiedmathematics.com/  

Mitchell J. Nathan, BSEE, Ph.D., studies how we think, teach, and learn, with particular emphasis on the role that language and embodied processes plays in mathematics and engineering learning, teaching, educational assessment, and design. Dr. Nathan has authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications, and has secured research funds from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U. S. Dept. of Education-Institute of Educational Sciences (IES), and the James S. McDonnell Foundation (JSMF). Dr. Nathan is an elected Fellow of the International Society of the Learning Sciences, and a founding officer (2002). He founded the American Education Research Association (AERA) Division C section on Engineering and Computer Science Education (2013), co-Chaired the International Conference on Computer-supported Collaborative Learning, CSCL10 (2013), and co-founded EMIC (2016), an international group of scholars and educators focused on embodied education. He has been Visiting Professor (2011-2016) for the Latin American School for Education, Cognitive and Neural Sciences, and served on multiple committees for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. He is an inductee of the University of Wisconsin’s Teaching Academy, which promotes excellence in teaching in higher education, and served on its executive board. Nathan has, since 2017, been the inaugural Chair of the Teachers as Learners (TaL) grant program, funded by JSMF.

Education

  • PhD Cognitive Psychology, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1991
  • MA Psychology, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1988
  • BA History, Carnegie Mellon University, 1984
  • BS Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 1984
  • BS Mathematics, Carnegie Mellon University, 1984

Select Publications

  • Nathan, M. J. (In Press). Foundations of embodied learning: A paradigm for education. Foundations of embodied learning: A paradigm for education Routledge Press Foundations of Embodied Learning (Routledge-2021).
  • Abrahamson, D., Nathan, M. J., Williams-Pierce, C., Walkington, C., Ottmar, E. R., Soto, H., & Alibali, M. W. (2020). The future of embodied design for mathematics teaching and learning. S. Ramanathan & I. A. C. Mok (Eds.), Futures of STEM education: Multiple perspectives from researchers [Special issue], Frontiers in Education, 5(147) Online Publication/Abstract.
  • Nathan, M. J., & Walkington, C. (2017). Grounded and embodied mathematical cognition: promoting mathematical insight and proof using action and language. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 2(9) Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications.
  • Committee on Integrated STEM Education. National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council (2014). STEM Integration in K-12 Education: Status, Prospects, and an Agenda for Research. In Margaret Honey, Greg Pearson, and Heidi Schweingruber (Ed.),
  • Nathan, M. J., Srisurichan, R., Walkington, C., Wolfgram, M., Williams, C., & Alibali, M. W. (2013). Building cohesion across representations: A mechanism for STEM integration. Journal of Engineering Education (Special issue on representations in engineering education), 102(1), 77-116.
  • Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4-58.
  • Alibali, M. W., & Nathan, M. J. (2012). Embodiment in mathematics teaching and learning: Evidence from learners' and teachers' gestures. Journal of the Learning Sciences. (Special Issue on Embodiment in Mathematics), 21(2), 247-286.
  • Nathan, M. J. (2012). Rethinking formalisms in formal education. Educational Psychologist, 47(2), 125-148.
  • Nathan, M. J., Wolfgram, M., Srisurichan, R., & Alibali, M. W. (2011). Modal engagements in precollege engineering: Tracking math and science across symbols, sketches, software, silicone and wood.. Proceedings of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) 2011, 32. American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE).
  • Tran, N., & Nathan, M. J. (2010). An investigation of the relationship between pre-college engineering studies and student achievement in science and mathematics. Journal of Engineering Education, 99(2), 143-157.

Select Presentations

  • Nathan, M. J. (2021, January). Scale-down methodology: Scaling-up educational innovation. presented at the Talk to Santa Fe Institute: Education, Equity & Technology, Santa Fe, NM.
  • Nathan, M. J. (2020, October). The Future of Embodied Design for Mathematics Teaching and Learning. Panel presented at the EMIC Virtual #2.
  • Nathan, M. J. (2016, October). The future of the Learning Sciences. Keynote/Plenary Address presented at the Inaugural Learning Sciences Graduate Student (LSGS) Conference, Chicago, IL.
  • Nathan, M. J., McClelland, J. L., Spelke, E. S., Kellman, P. J., & McCandliss, B. D. (2015, February). Human Mathematical Abilities - From Intuition to the Classroom and Back. presented at the AAAS Presidential Invited Session, San Jose, CA.
  • Nathan, M. J. (2014, November). The Science of Learning. Keynote/Plenary Address presented at the International Mind, Brain and Education Society (IMBES), Fort Worth, TX.
  • Nathan, M. J. (2013, April). Embodied Cognition: What It Means to Know and Do Mathematics. Keynote/Plenary Address presented at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.
  • Nathan, M. J. (2013, January). STEM Education in the Classroom: Rising to the Challenges. Keynote/Plenary Address presented at the STEM Education Initiative, Ministry of Education, Bangkok, Thailand.
  • Nathan, M. J. (2011, March). The Transition from Arithmetic to Algebraic Reasoning. presented at the The Latin American School for Education, Cognitive and Neural Sciences, San Pedro De Atacama, Chile.
  • Nathan, M. J. (2007, January). To disagree, we must also agree: How intersubjectivity structures and perpetuates discourse in a mathematics classroom. Oral Presentation presented at the Presentation to the University of Haifa School of Education, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Israel.
  • Nathan, M. J. (2006, March). Research in the U. S. on learning and teaching in mathematics and science. presented at the Invited Talk to the Research Institute of Science Education, Guangxi Normal University, China.

Select Awards and Honors

  • Fellow, International Society of the Learning Sciences, 2018
  • Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2018
  • Inductee, Teaching Academy, University of Wisconsin, 2014
  • Outstanding Reviewer, Review of Educational Research, American Educational Research Association (AERA), 2007