Robert B. Davis Institute for Learning

Director: Carolyn A. Maher, Rutgers University–New Brunswick

Associate Director: Arthur B. Powell, Rutgers University–Newark

Technology Coordinator: Robert Sigley

Wesbite: http://www.rbdil.org

Scholarly work at the Robert B. Davis Institute for Learning (RBDIL) focuses on the nexus of research and educational practice, particularly issues of learning and teaching in the content area of mathematics. Its mission is twofold: (1) to conduct detailed studies over time and across a variety of educational settings to identify how individual learners and groups of learners construct mathematical and forms of reasoning; (2) to understand how technology shapes and is shaped by learners mathematical activity; and (3) to use findings and products of research in teacher education to (a) inform the design of learning environments and (b) promote instructional practices through which students develop critical thinking and reasoning abilities grounded in their understanding of mathematics. A particular strength of the Davis Institute is fostering innovative and academically robust collaborations that bridge boundaries of departments, campuses, institutions, and nations. Intellectual leadership emanates from the New Brunswick and Newark campuses of Rutgers, and faculty from diverse departments--computer science, digital library systems, educational psychology, learning and teaching, mathematics, and urban education--are among the Davis Institute's research scientists. Its collaborative partners include faculty researchers at universities in the United States and internationally, as well as school personnel who participate in research and professional learning opportunities.

Graduate students at Rutgers pursuing an Ed.M., an Ed.D., or a Ph.D. degree become active partners in research and teacher development initiatives through working with faculty affiliated with the Davis Institute. They are introduced to research through innovative, technology-rich courses taught by our faculty, initially designed for study contexts and subsequently institutionalized. Projects include: multiple longitudinal studies on the development of mathematical ideas and ways of reasoning; eMath studies of collaborative problem solving in online environments and with tools of dynamic mathematics; cyber-enabled design research using videos on children's learning in preservice and in-service teacher education; and cyberlearning studies on the construction of multimedia artifacts that utilize a major video collection from more than a quarter century of research at the RBDIL.

For additional information, contact Professor Carolyn Maher, Robert B. Davis Institute for Learning, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 10 Seminary Place, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1183 (phone: 848-932-0802, or email: carolyn.maher@gse.rutgers.edu).