Ron Tzur

Research Professor
Mathematics Education
Department of Curriculum & Instruction

Research

2009-2014: Co-PI for the NSF-funded project, Nurturing Multiplicative Reasoning of Students with Learning Disabilities in Computerized Conceptual-Modeling Environment, a 5-year, $3,000,000 study that focuses on how grade 4 & 5 students defined as at risk in mathematics develop robust understandings of multiplicative concepts and operations and how an artificial intelligence computer software may emulate conceptually-based teaching methods for promoting those students’ learning in schools.

2008-2009: Co-PI for the NSF-funded pilot project, Teachers’ Learning to Teach Parallel Algorithmic Thinking (PAT), a 1-year, $50,000 study that follows two case study teachers as they plan and implement PAT lessons for their high school students (VA, MD).

2006-2008: Program Director at the National Science Foundation (NSF)

2004-2006: PI for the NSF-funded project Nurturing Mathematics Dreamkeepers, a 5-year, $3,655,000 study that focuses on how K-2 teachers develop a conception-based, culturally relevant pedagogy to better serve the learning of African American students and thus contribute to understanding, and closing, the achievement gap. In the summer of 2005 I was responsible for writing and successfully securing a Supplemental Budget grant of $351,000 (hence a total of $4.0 million).

2003-2009: Developer of proposal for and evaluator of the U.S. Department of Education (Jacob Javitz) funded Bright IDEA-2 project. This is a 5-year (2004-2009), $2,500,000, R&D teacher enhancement project for promoting K-2 gifted and talented minority students. The project is conducted jointly by the American Association for Gifted Children at Duke University and by the NC Department of Public Instruction.

2000-2002: PI (Fellow) for the National Academy of Education / Spencer Foundation-funded project, Relating Conceptual Learning and Teaching in Mathematics, ($45,000) including development of the proposal and carrying out the study in a third grade classroom in Israel.

1996-2001: Co-PI for National Science Foundation-funded project, Mathematics Teacher Development, (over $1,000,000 for 4.5 years) including development of the proposal, recruitment of elementary and middle grade teachers, on-going analysis of class progress and case studies, and writing papers for refereed journals and refereed conference proceedings.

1998-2000: Co-PI and Leader in a research and teaching team of the new Penn State – State College Area School District Professional Development Schools (PDS) Partnership, (over $450,000 for 3 years from Lucent Technology) including conceptualization of the partnership, creation of the mathematics education component of the program, recruitment of preservice and inservice elementary teachers, and writing the grant proposal.

 

Education

Ph.D.	University of Georgia, 1995
M.S.	Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, 1992
B.S.	Haifa University, Israel, 1986

Selected Publications

• Tzur, R. (2007). Fine grain assessment of students’ mathematical understanding: Participatory and anticipatory stages in learning a new mathematical conception. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 66, 3, 273-291.
  

• Tzur, R., & Clarke, M. R. (2006). Riding the mathematical Merry-Go-Round to foster conceptual understanding of angle. Teaching Children Mathematics, 12, 8, 388-393.
  

• Tzur, R., & Simon, M. A. (2004). Distinguishing two stages of mathematics conceptual learning. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 2, 287-304.
  

• Simon, M. A., & Tzur, R. (2004). Explicating the role of mathematical tasks in conceptual learning: An elaboration of the hypothetical learning trajectory. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 6, 2, 91-104.

• Simon, M. A., Tzur, R., Heinz, K., & Kinzel, M. (2004). Explicating a mechanism for conceptual learning: Elaborating the construct of reflective abstraction. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 35, 5, 305-329.

• Tzur, R. (2004). Teacher and students’ joint production of a reversible fraction conception. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 23, 1, 93-114. 

• Tzur, R. (2001). Becoming a mathematics teacher educator: Conceptualizing the terrain through self-reflective analysis. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 4, 4, 259-283.

• Tzur, R., Simon, M.A., Heinz, K., Kinzel, M. (2001). An Account of a Teacher’s Perspective on Learning and Teaching Mathematics: Implications for Teacher Development. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 4, 227-254.

• Heinz, K., Kinzel, M., Simon, M.A., & Tzur, R. (2000). Moving students through steps of mathematical knowing: An account of the practice of an elementary mathematics teacher in transition. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 19, 83-107.

• Simon, M. A., Tzur, R., Heinz, K., Kinzel, M., & Smith, M. S. (2000).  Characterizing a perspective underlying the practice of mathematics teachers in transition. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 31, 5, 579-601.

• Tzur, R. (2000). An integrated research on children’s construction of meaningful, symbolic, partitioning-related conceptions, and the teacher’s role in fostering that learning. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 18, 2, 123-147.

• Simon, M. A., and Tzur, R. (1999). Explicating the teacher’s perspective from the researchers’ perspectives: Generating accounts of mathematics teachers’ practice. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 30, 3, 252-264.

• Tzur, R. (1999). An integrated study of children’s construction of improper fractions and the teacher’s role in promoting that learning. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 30, 4, 390-41

Courses Taught

EDCI 364	Senior/Junior Mathematics Curriculum and Methodology
EDCI 620a	Introduction to Statistics in Educational Research

Professional Experience

2009-present	Research Professor (Educational Studies), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
2008-2009	Professor of Education (Mathematics Education), University of Adelaide, South Australia
2006-2008	Professor of Education (Mathematics Education), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
2001-2005	Associate Professor of Education (Mathematics Education), North Carolina State University – Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education, Raleigh, NC
1995-2001	Assistant Professor of Education (Mathematics Education), Penn State University, Curriculum & Instruction, State College, PA