Suzanne Chapin

Dr. Suzanne Chapin is Professor of Mathematics Education at Boston University where she teaches graduate-level courses and conducts research. Her work covers the areas of gifted education, curriculum design, teacher professional development in mathematics, and teacher and student discourse in mathematics. Dr. Chapin is the principal investigator of two Robert Noyce Scholars Programs; these programs recruit and prepare outstanding mathematics students for lasting teaching careers in urban school districts. She is also the PI of the Elementary Pre-Service Teachers Mathematics Project where she is involved in writing problem-based mathematics tasks and researching the effects of these tasks in conjunction with discourse-based pedagogy on elementary education majors’ knowledge of mathematics for teaching. Dr. Chapin is the senior author of Math Matters: Understanding the Math You Teach Grades K-8 (2006), a book designed to help teachers understand and teach to the “big” ideas in mathematics and Classroom Discussions: Using Math Talk To Help Students Learn (2009), that focuses on the role of classroom discourse in learning mathematics. Her most recent work is a multi-media resource—Classroom Discussions: Seeing Math Discourse in Action—which includes a facilitator’s guide, DVDs, and CD. She is co-author of Math Innovations, a new middle grades mathematics series published by Kendall Hunt. Her work on the Mentoring Mathematical Minds series (12 books for gifted students in grades 3 through 5) has won “best curriculum” awards for the past five years from the National Association of Gifted Children. A consultant to school districts on reforming school mathematics, Dr. Chapin is a frequent speaker at national conferences and meetings of mathematicians, mathematics educators, researchers, and policy makers.