The challenges faced by mathematics education reflect the more immense difficulties of the schooling system as a whole. This thesis investigates such challenges in the light of an ethical learning foundation and aims for a transformation through the use of technologies as learning tools.  Interaction design methods are used to craft constructivist learning kits that aim to move mathematics students from passive receivers of knowledge to active learners. The proposed tools modify new technologies by adapting them to teachers’ and learners’ needs to be best suited for mathematics classroom adoption. Additionally, social, political, and economic issues that may hinder the adoption of constructivist learning are presented and critically discussed.  Finally, this thesis paves the way for future designers who aim to design mathematics educational kits by providing a design framework based on the learning theory and the design process presented in this thesis.

The values of the disability rights movement and community psychology promote research that focuses on improving the lives of individuals with disabilities (Dowrick & Keys, 2001). Using the Internet for social interactions has been shown to contribute to an individual's identity development, sense of community, and well-being (Obst, Zinkiewicz, & Smith, 2002a; Turkle, 1995). While challenges in typical social interactions have traditionally been considered a defining feature of autism spectrum disorder, autistic individuals have taken advantage of the Internet to develop social interactions (Blume, 1997a). The present study focused on the online Autistic community and how the importance and value of involvement in it is related to Autistic identity, sense of community, and psychological well-being. The Academic Autistic Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education (AASPIRE) partnered with the Gernsbacher Lab to form the Gateway Project. Using the Gateway Project, AASPIRE conducted the Internet Use, Community, and Well-Being Study and collected data from 72 autistic adults online. It was hypothesized that the importance and value of involvement in the online Autistic community would be positively related to Autistic identity and sense of community, Autistic identity and sense of community would be positively related, and Autistic identity and sense of community would be positively related to psychological well-being. It was also hypothesized that the positive relationship between the importance and value of involvement in the online Autistic community and psychological well-being would be mediated by Autistic identity and sense of community. Correlations were examined among the hypothesized relationships, and a mediated regression model (Baron & Kenny, 1986) was used to explore the relationship between the importance and value of involvement in the online Autistic community and psychological well-being with Autistic identity and sense of community as mediators. Significant relationships were found between the importance and value of involvement in the online Autistic community and Autistic identity, between the importance and value of involvement in the online Autistic community and sense of community, and between autistic identity and sense of community. As a first step to test the mediated regression models, psychological well-being was regressed on the importance and value of involvement in the online Autistic community. The regression was not significant; therefore the hypothesized model was not significant. Despite non-significant mediated regression model results, significant relationships among the importance and value of involvement in the online Autistic community and Autistic identity and sense of community offer important results. These finding illuminate the potential positive impact of the importance and value of involvement in the online Autistic community, including evidence counter to the myth that autistic individuals lack skills necessary for social relationships. These findings support the positive utility of involvement in the online Autistic community for autistic adults. Further research with a larger sample size is recommended, due to low power coefficients in the analyses. Additional research may also further illuminate the findings of the current study. Possible topics may include sense of community and Autistic identity in individuals that do not use the Internet, differences in the way the Internet is used in autistic individuals, and different measures of involvement in the online Autistic community and well-being.

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<p> </p> <p>Issues of social justice continue to permeate all aspects of life in the United States. Acknowledging recent calls for racial justice, as well as efforts to restrict what is taught in mathematics classrooms, researchers and practitioners are increasingly exploring the promises of teaching mathematics for social justice in secondary mathematics classrooms. This dissertation contributes to research about how a social justice mathematics course can be utilized in teacher education programs to support prospective mathematics teachers’ (PMTs’) development of their mathematics identities, as well as how PMTs translate social justice mathematics theory into</p> <p>practice with their secondary mathematics students. This research complexifies the role of primarily white mathematics teachers and teacher educators working toward teaching</p> <p>mathematics for social justice by foregrounding some of the ways in which social justice mathematics curricula and instruction may continue to center whiteness. </p> <p><br></p> <p>This dissertation includes three studies focused on the design and delivery of a social justice mathematics course offered to undergraduate students, as well as the learning outcomes</p> <p>for 11 PMTs enrolled in the first iteration. As such, each study is formatted for submission to a research journal and contains its own questions, methods, findings, discussion, and conclusion. </p> <p><br></p> <p>The first and second studies detail the experiences of PMTs in a social justice mathematics course. In the first study, I explored how engaging in such a course contributed to PMTs’ mathematics identities. Findings in this case study suggest that sustained engagement with social justice mathematics can contribute to PMTs’ conceptions of mathematics and encourage them to address issues of social justice in their mathematics classrooms. Building on this, three of the PMTs enrolled in the course and I engaged in a critical participatory action research study to investigate their experiences working toward teaching mathematics for social justice in their secondary mathematics field placements. Prior to engaging their students with social justice mathematics tasks, the PMTs focused on developing relationships and trust with students and also maintained a commitment to engaging students with dominant mathematics. </p> <p><br></p> <p>Informed by a finding in the first study (i.e., PMTs continued to view mathematics as objective and neutral), in the third study, I investigated the prominence of whiteness in the development and facilitation of the course. Using action research and critical whiteness studies, I detail areas in which I perpetuated whiteness, as well as areas in which I began to make progress.</p>

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