MƒA teachers can register for this event on the Small-World Network. Other guests can register here.
Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium
160 Fifth Avenue, 2nd Floor
The MƒA Thursday Think Speaker Series brings accomplished speakers who dive into cutting-edge topics in STEM education to MƒA. These talks, held once a month throughout the school year, invite MƒA teachers and the general public to learn and engage with these thought leaders and professionals in mathematics, science, and education.
Students in urban settings often experience mathematics as disconnected from who they are, where they live, and the critical issues facing their communities. A study from the YouthTruth Math Learning and Identity Project revealed that only 57% of the nearly 31,000 K-12 students surveyed felt it was important to learn mathematics.
In this talk, Dr. Nicole Fonger addresses this disconnect with a culturally and historically responsive literacy model, redefining meaningful mathematics learning while sharing research, sample curricula, and classroom practices.
She models how beginning with locality identity—our sense of belonging to place—opens up rich opportunities for hands-on data-visualization activities, expanding typical views of teaching and learning through multiple representations.
Dr. Fonger shares relevant tools and resources across K-12 mathematics, with some science applications as well. All are welcome.
Dr. Nicole L. Fonger (she/her) is an Associate Professor of Mathematics and Mathematics Education at Syracuse University and a mathematics educator for over 20 years. Her research advances meaningful, equity-centered mathematics learning through community-engaged, participatory design that links research and practice in urban public schools.
She is the author of Making Algebra Meaningful: A Visual Approach to Math Literacy for All, has authored and co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications, and is the recipient of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Linking Research and Practice Outstanding Publication Award.
Dr. Fonger currently serves as a 2025–2027 Lender Center for Social Justice Faculty Fellow. As co-founder of the Data Warriors program, a multi-institutional youth participatory action research initiative, she collaborates with Syracuse teachers and mentors student researchers to support youth mathematical reasoning, data literacy, geospatial awareness, and civic action. Originally from Minnesota, Nicole lives with her husband and three school-age children in Syracuse, NY.
