Faculty Profiles

• Pre-K and elementary students’ cognitive development and understanding of mathematics
• Children’s understanding of negative numbers
• Use of games and contrasting cases to support children’s numerical understanding
• The interplay between teachers’ use of questioning, number talks, and students’ mathematical reasoning
• Teachers’ use of assessment to inform mathematics instruction
• Sequencing of mathematical topics

Selected Publications

• Bofferding, L., & Zhu, Y. (2023). Composing tangram puzzles to support shape transformation. Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12, 116(7), 503-510.
• Bofferding, L., Haiduc, A., Aqazade, M., Chen, L., & Kocabas, S. (2023). Using incorrect worked examples to investigate the consistency of first and third graders’ measurement conceptions. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 21, 1913-1934. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-022-10334-x
• Bofferding, L., & Aqazade, M. (2023). “Where does the square go?”: Reinterpreting shapes when solving a tangram puzzle. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 112(1), 25-47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-022-10166-0
• Bofferding, L., & Hansen, S. (2022). Teaching with contrasting examples: Helping young children investigate structure in subtraction problems with integers. Young Children, 77(3), 24-31.
• Bofferding, L., Kocabas, S., Aqazade, M., Haiduc, A., & Chen, L (2022). The effect of play and worked examples on first and third graders’ creating and debugging of programming algorithms. In A. Ottenbreit-Leftwich & A. Yadav (Eds.), Computational thinking in PreK-5: Empirical evidence for integration and future directions. A Special Research Publication (pp. 19-29). Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. and the Robin Hood Learning + Technology Fund. https://doi.org/10.1145/3507951.3519284
• Chen, L., Akarsu, M., & Bofferding, L. (2022). Finding the boundary of kindergarteners’ subtraction understanding: Prospective teachers’ problem development and questioning. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 25, 91-118. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10857-020-09481-1
• Aqazade, M., & Bofferding, L. (2021). Second and fifth graders’ use of knowledge-pieces and knowledge-structures when solving integer addition problems. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 7(2), 82-103. https://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.6563
• Bofferding, L., & Hoffman, A. (2019). Children’s integer understanding and the effects of linear board games: A look at two measures. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 56, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2019.100721
• Bofferding, L. (2019). Understanding negative numbers. In A. Norton & M. W. Alibali (Eds.), Constructing number: Merging perspectives from psychology and mathematics education (pp. 251-277). Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-00491-0_12
• Bofferding, L., & Wessman-Enzinger, N. M. (Eds.) (2018). Exploring the Integer Addition and Subtraction Landscape: Perspectives on Integer Thinking. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90692-8
• Bofferding, L., Kastberg, S., & Hoffman, A. (2016). Family mathematics nights: An opportunity to improve preservice teachers’ understanding of parents’ roles and expectations. School Science and Mathematics, 116(1), 17-28. https://doi.org/10.1111/ssm.12109
• Bofferding, L. (2014). Understanding negative integers: Characterizing first-graders’ mental models. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 45(2), 194-245. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.45.2.0194

• EDCI 36401 — Teaching Mathematics in K-2
• EDCI 54800 — Teaching Mathematics to Diverse Learners
• EDCI 62000 — Developing as a Mathematics Researcher
• EDCI 63600 — Learning of Mathematics: Insights and Issues