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GSE Profiles


portraitDor Abrahamson
Assistant Professor
Cognition and Development

Office: 4649 Tolman Hall
Phone: (510) 643 3599
Email: dor at berkeley.edu
URL: edrl.berkeley.edu

Staff Contact: Kate Capps
Office: 4533 Tolman Hall
Phone: 510-642-4207
Email: kate at berkeley.edu

D
or Abrahamson's research interests include a range of domains relating to the learning and teaching of mathematics. Dor studies situated, distributed, and embodied cognition; design principles for mixed-media learning environments; gesture, intuition, and creativity; patterns of students' classroom participation and issues of equity; the learning of mathematics and science from an agent-based/complexity perspective; and philosophy of math.

Typically, Dor investigates multiple facets of a mathematical concept that students have difficulty with, and these investigations result in the design and development of artifacts in both 'traditional' and computational media. Dor then interacts with students as they work and think with these objects, and these interactions are scaled up to classroom-level interventions in collaboration with teachers. Data from these studies feed back into the development of models of mathematical cognition and implications of these models for education. Mathematical topics Dor has focused on are ratio-and-proportion and probability-and-statistics.

Recipient, National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship for Seeing Chance, a design-based research project that investigates how students build personal meaning for probability concepts (see ProbLab for previous design).

Director, Embodied Design Research Laboratory (EDRL).

Member of faculty, EMST, SESAME, MACSME, ICBS, BCNM.



Degrees
Ph.D., Northwestern University, Learning Sciences
M.A., Tel Aviv University, Cognitive Psychology
B.Mus., Jerusalem Academy of Music, Performing Arts (cello)

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Courses and Professional Programs
EDUC 290C Design-Based Research in Mixed-Media Learning Environments
EDUC 290C Cognitive Ergonomics in STEM Education Research
EDUC 290C Principles for Embodied Design
EDUC 290C Modeling-Based Methodology for Design, Learning, & Research
EDUC 290C Learning Chance: Computer-Supported Inquiry into Probability
EDUC 223B Embodied Design Research Laboratory (EDRL)
EDUC 195C: Knowing and Learning in Math and Science

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Publications

Articles (Refereed Journals, Proceeding)
  • Veeragoudar Harrell, S., & Abrahamson, D. (in press). Second Life: offering marginalized youth a second chance. In H. Gazit (Ed.), The metaverse assembled [Special Issue]. Journal of Virtual Worlds Research.

  • Abrahamson, D., Bryant, M. J., Gutierrez, J. F., Mookerjee, A. V., Souchkova, D., & Thacker, I. (2009). Figuring it out: mathematical learning as guided semiotic disambiguation of useful yet initially entangled intuitions (2009). In S. L. Swars, D. W. Stinson, & S. Lemons-Smith (Eds.), Proceedings of the Thirty-First Annual Meeting of the North-American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 5, pp. 662-670). Atlanta, GA: Georgia State University.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2009). A student's synthesis of tacit and mathematical knowledge as a researcher's lens on bridging learning theory. In M. Borovcnik & R. Kapadia (Eds.), Research and developments in probability education [Special Issue]. International Electronic Journal of Mathematics Education, 4(3), 195-226.

  • ‭Abrahamson, D. (2009). Coordinating phenomenologically immediate and semiotically mediated constructions of statistical distribution. In K. Makar (Ed.), The role of context and evidence in informal inferential reasoning. Proceedings of the Sixth International Research Forum on Statistical Reasoning, Thinking, and Literacy (SRTL-6). Brisbane, Australia: The University of Queensland.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2009). Orchestrating semiotic leaps from tacit to cultural quantitative reasoning—the case of anticipating experimental outcomes of a quasi-binomial random generator. Cognition and Instruction, 27(3), 175-224.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2009). Embodied design: Constructing means for constructing meaning. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 70(1), 27-47. [see electronic supplementary materials here]

  • Abrahamson, D. (2008). Bridging theory: Activities designed to support the grounding of outcome-based combinatorial analysis in event-based intuitive judgment–A Case Study. In M. Borovcnik & D. Pratt (Eds. of Topic Study Group 13, Research and Development in the Teaching and Learning of Probability), in the Proceedings of the International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME 11). Monterrey, Mexico: ICME. [view presentation slides]

  • Abrahamson, D., & White, T. (2008). Artifacts and aberrations: On the volatility of design research and the serendipity of insight. In G. Kanselaar, J. van Merriënboer, P. Kirschner, & T. de Jong (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS2008) (Vol. 1, pp. 27-34). Utrecht, The Netherlands: ISLS.

  • Veeragoudar Harrell, S., & Abrahamson, D. (2008). It takes a virtual village: Transforming urban-youth intellectual agency through critical computational literacy. In S. Veeragoudar Harrell (Chair & Organizer) and S. Barab (Discussant), Virtually there: Emerging designs for STEM teaching and learning in immersive online 3D microworlds. Symposium in G. Kanselaar, J. van Merriënboer, P. Kirschner, & T. de Jong (Eds.), Proceedings of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS2008) (Vol. 3, pp. 383-391). Utrecht, The Netherlands: ICLS.

  • Blikstein, P., Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U (2008). The classroom as a complex adaptive system: An agent-based framework to investigate students' emergent collective behaviors. In G. Kanselaar, J. van Merriënboer, P. Kirschner, & T. de Jong, Proceedings of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS2008) (Vol. 3, pp. 12-13). Utrecht, The Netherlands: ISLS.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2007). Both rhyme and reason: Toward design that goes beyond what meets the eye. In T. Lamberg & L. Wiest (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty Ninth Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 287-295). Stateline (Lake Tahoe), NV: University of Nevada, Reno.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2007). Handling problems: Embodied reasoning in situated mathematics. In T. Lamberg & L. Wiest (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty Ninth Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 219-226). Stateline (Lake Tahoe), NV: University of Nevada, Reno.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2007). The complexity of education research and why we like it. In M. Jacobson (Symposium Organizer & Chair) & W. Clancey (Discussant), Cognitive systems and the cognitive sciences: Potential for pervasive theoretical and research implications? In G. Trafton & D. S. McNamara (Eds.), Proceedings of the 29th Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society (pp. 29-30). Austin, TX: Cognitive Science Society. CD-ROM

  • Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U. (2007). Learning axes and bridging tools in a technology-based design for statistics. International Journal of Computers for Mathematics Learning, 12(1), 23-55.

  • Veeragoudar Harrell, S., & Abrahamson, D. (2007). Computational literacy and mathematics learning in a virtual world: Identity, embodiment, and empowered media engagement. In C. Chinn, G. Erkens, & S. Puntambekar (Eds.), Proceedings of the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) Conference (Vol. 8, Part 1, pp. 264 - 266). NJ: Rutgers University. CD ROM

  • Abrahamson, D., Blikstein, P., & Wilensky, U. (2007). Classroom model, model classroom: Computer-supported methodology for investigating collaborative-learning pedagogy. In C. Chinn, G. Erkens, & S. Puntambekar (Eds.), Proceedings of the Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) Conference (Vol. 8, Part 1, pp. 46 - 55). NJ: Rutgers University. CD ROM

  • Abrahamson, D., Berland, M.W., Shapiro, R. B., Unterman, J. W., & Wilensky, U. J. (2006). Leveraging epistemological diversity through computer-based argumentation in the domain of probability. For the Learning of Mathematics, 26(3), 39-45.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2006). Mathematical representations as conceptual composites: Implications for design. In S. Alatorre, J. L. Cortina, M. Sáiz, & A. Méndez (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty Eighth Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 2, pp. 464-466). Universidad Pedagógica Nacional. [Download expanded version]

  • Brar, R., Galpern, A. J., & Abrahamson, D. (2006). Lost in translation: The 'bean snare' as a case of the situated–symbolic divide. In S. Alatorre, J. L. Cortina, M. Sáiz, & A. Méndez (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty Eighth Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 2, pp. 390-391). Universidad Pedagógica Nacional. [Download expanded version]

  • Abrahamson, D., & Cendak, R. M. (2006). The odds of understanding the law of large numbers: A design for grounding intuitive probability in combinatorial analysis. In J. Novotná, H. Moraová, M. Krátká, & N. Stehlíková (Ed.), Proceedings of the Thirtieth Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 2, pp. 1 - 8). Prague, Czech Republic: Charles University.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2006). "Because in the world, there are more blocks of this type": The real-worldness of immersive combinatorial analysis as a grounding of simulated probability experiments. In D. Abrahamson (Symposium Chair & Org.) & A. Collins (Discussant), What's a situation in situated cognition? -- A constructionist critique of authentic inquiry. In S. Barab, K. Hay, & D. Hickey (Eds.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference of the Learning Sciences (Vol. 2, pp. 1015 - 1021). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. (contact me for full PowerPoint presentation, including video clips) [Download 'Overview' slides] [Download movie]

  • Abrahamson, D. (2006). The shape of things to come: The computational pictograph as a bridge from combinatorial space to outcome distribution. International Journal of Computers for Mathematics Learning, 11(1), 137-146. [SpringerLink PDF]

  • Abrahamson, D., Janusz, R., & Wilensky, U. (2006). There once was a 9-Block... -- A middle-school design for probability and statistics. Journal of Statistics Education, 14(1). Retrieved August 21, 2006, from http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v14n1/abrahamson.html

  • Abrahamson, D. (2006). Learning chance: Lessons from a learning-axes and bridging-tools perspective. In A. Rossman & B. Chance (Eds.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Teaching Statistics. Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.

  • Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U. (2005). Understanding chance: From student voice to learning supports in a design experiment in the domain of probability. In G. M. Lloyd, M. Wilson, J. L. M. Wilkins, & S. L. Behm (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty Seventh Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 1-7). Roanoke, VA: Virginia Tech University.

  • Blikstein, P., Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U. (2005). NetLogo: Where we are, where we're going. In M. Eisenberg & A. Eisenberg (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference for Interaction Design and Children (IDC 2005), Boulder, Colorado.

  • Abrahamson, D., Blikstein, P., Lamberty, K. K., & Wilensky, U. (2005). Mixed-media learning environments. In M. Eisenberg & A. Eisenberg (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference for Interaction Design and Children (IDC 2005). Boulder, Colorado.

  • Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U. (2005). ProbLab goes to school: Design, teaching, and learning of probability with multi-agent interactive computer models. In M. Bosch (Ed.), Proceedings of the Fourth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (pp. 570-579). Universitat Ramon Llull: FUNDEMI IQS.

  • Fuson, K. C. & Abrahamson, D. (2005). Understanding ratio and proportion as an example of the Apprehending Zone and Conceptual-Phase problem-solving models. In J. Campbell (Ed.) Handbook of mathematical cognition (pp. 213 - 234). New York: Psychology Press.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2004). Embodied spatial articulation: A gesture perspective on student negotiation between kinesthetic schemas and epistemic forms in learning mathematics. In D. E. McDougall and J. A. Ross (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty Sixth Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 2, pp. 791 - 797). Windsor, Ontario: Preney.

  • Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky (2004). ProbLab: A computer-supported unit in probability and statistics. In M. J. Hoines & A. B. Fuglestad (Eds.), Proceedings of the 28th Annual Meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 1, p. 369). Bergen University College.

  • Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U. (2004). S.A.M.P.L.E.R.: Collaborative interactive computer-based statistics learning environment. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress on Mathematical Education, Copenhagen, July 4 - 11, 2004. http://www.icme-organisers.dk/tsg11/

  • Abrahamson, D., Berland, M.W., Shapiro, R. B., Unterman, J. W., & Wilensky, U. (2004). Leveraging epistemological diversity through computer-based argumentation in the domain of probability. In Y. B. Kafai, W. A. Sandoval, N. Enyedy, A. S. Nixon, & F. Herrera (Eds.), Proceedings of The Sixth International Conference of the Learning Sciences (pp. 28 - 35). Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

  • Abrahamson, D. & Cigan, C. (2003). A design for ratio and proportion. Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, 8(9), 493-501. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics: Reston, Virginia.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2003). Text talk, body talk, table talk: A design of ratio and proportion as classroom parallel events. In N. A. Pateman, B. J. Dougherty, & J. Zilliox (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty Seventh Annual Meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 2, pp. 1 - 8). Columbus, OH: Eric Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education.

  • Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U. (2003). The quest of the bell curve: A constructionist approach to learning statistics through designing computer-based probability experiments. In M. A. Mariotti (Ed.), Proceedings of the Third Conference of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. Pisa, Italy: University of Pisa.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2002). When 'the same' is the same as different differences: Aliya reconciles her perceptual judgment of proportional equivalence with her additive computation skills. In D. Mewborn, P. Sztajn, E. White, H. Wiegel, R. Bryant, and K. Nooney (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twenty Fourth Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 4, pp. 1658 - 1661). Columbus, OH: Eric Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education.

  • Book Chapters
  • Abrahamson, D. (in press). Towards instructional design for grounded mathematics learning: the case of the binomial. In N. L. Stein (Ed.), Developmental sciences go to school. New York: Routledge.

  • Fuson, K. C., & Abrahamson, D. (2005). Understanding ratio and proportion as an example of the Apprehending Zone and Conceptual-Phase problem-solving models. In J. Campbell (Ed.) Handbook of mathematical cognition (pp. 213 - 234). New York: Psychology Press.

  • Other Papers/Reports/Op-Eds/Computer Programs
  • Abrahamson, D. (2008). Writes of passage: From phenomenology to semiosis in mathematical learning. In T. Rikakis & A. Kelliher (Eds.), Proceedings of CreativeIT: Success factors in fostering creativity in IT research and education. Tempe, AZ: Arizona State University. (hear audio recording of the presentation)

  • Abrahamson, D. (2004). Keeping meaning in proportion: The multiplication table as a case of pedagogical bridging tools. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
    [ISBN 0-496-79720-0]

  • Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U. (2002). ProbLab The Center for Connected Learning and Computer-Based Modeling, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.

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    Presentations

    Invited
  • Abrahamson, D. (2009, April). Intuition is counter-intuitive: The complex role of media in mathematics students' coordination of tacit knowledge and formal procedures. Presentation at the CITRIS–BCNM New Media Research Roundtable (K. Goldberg, Organizer), April 2, 2009.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2009, February). Promoting computational literacy: a view from mathematics-education research; or, What might it even mean to start with principles?! Presentation at the National Academies—Computational Thinking for Everyone: A Workshop Series, Keck Center, Washington, DC, February 19-20, 2009.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2009, January). Close listening to gesture - An embodied-design perspective on mathematical reasoning. Paper presented at the Leonardo Art/Science Evening Rendezvous (P. Scaruffi, Org.), San Francisco, January 12.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2008, December). The abduction of Peirce: The missing link between perceptual judgment and mathematical reasoning? Invited lecture at the Townsend Working Group in Neuroscience and Philosophy (A. Rokem, J. Stazicker, & A. Noë, Organizers). December 9.

  • Abrahamson, D., & Howison, M. L. (2008, December). Kinemathics: Kinetically induced mathematical learning. Presentation and workshop at the UC Berkeley Gesture Group (E. Sweetser, Director), December 5, 2008.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2007, November). Agents, agency, equity: A complexity-studies perspective on classroom participation patterns. In K. W. Fischer (President) and M. Schwartz (Chair), The Inaugural Conference of the International Mind, Brain, and Education Society (IMBES): The Nature of Human Learning and How Educational Policy Can Profit from Research, Fort Worth, TX, November 1-3.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2007, October). From intuition to inscription: Designing learning experiences for deep mathematical understanding. In N. Stein (Organizer), The Spencer Conference: Developmental and Learning Sciences Go to School: Implications for Education and Public Policy. Chicago, October 10-14.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2007, September). From intuition to inscription: Emerging design principles for mathematics education. Presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Design and Development in Education (ISDDE), Berkeley, CA, September 17-20.

  • Papers
  • Abrahamson, D., & Howison, M. L. (2010, May). Kinemathics: exploring kinesthetically induced mathematical learning. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April 30 - May 4.

  • Abrahamson, D., & Howison, M. L. (2010, May). Embodied artifacts: coordinated action as an object-to-think-with. In D. L. Houlton (Organizer) & J. P. Gee (Discussant), Embodied and enactive approaches to instruction: implications and innovations. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April 30 - May 4.

  • Veeragoudar, S., & Abrahamson, D. (2009, April). At-risk voices speak, theory is all ears: Toward an empirically-based model of agency for STEM learning. Paper accepted for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, April 13-17.

  • Zolkower, B., & Abrahamson, D. (2009, April). Studying paradigmatic didactical-mathematical situations: Design and implementation of an experimental graduate level course for pre-service mathematics teachers and doctoral students. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, April 13-17.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2009, April). Appropriate tools: On grounding mathematical procedures in perceptual intuitions. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, April 13-17.

  • Mauks–Kaupke, K. P., Buchanan, K., Relaford–Doyle, J., Sushkova, D., & Abrahamson, D. (2009, April). The double-edged sword of constructivist design. Paper accepted for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, April 13-17.

  • Blikstein, P., Wilensky, U., & Abrahamson, D. (2009, April). Towards a framework for cognitive research using agent-based modeling and complexity sciences. In M. Jacobson (Symposium Chair), M. Kapur (Organizer), & N. Sibelli (Discussant), Complexity, learning, and research: Under the microscope, new kinds of microscopes, and seeing differently. Paper accepted for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, April 13-17.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2008, April). Toward intuitive grasps of binomial distributions: A mixed-media approach. In A. Rubin (Chair) and P. Vahey (Discussant), Contrasting perspectives on connecting important ideas in probability. Symposium presented at the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Research Presession, Salt Lake City, UT, April 7-9, 2008.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2008, March). From gesture to design: Building cognitively ergonomic learning tools. In S. Gerofsky (Chair & Org.) & M. Nathan (Discussant), Math education meets gesture studies: How mathematics education adapts gesture studies to its own purposes. Symposium presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, New York, March 24-28.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2008, March). Fostering the emergence of an embodied cognitive artifact: The case of the number line in a design for probability. In D. Abrahamson (Chair), D. Earnest (Org.), & H. Bass (Discussant), The many values o the number line—An interdisciplinary forum. Symposium presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, New York, March 24-28.

  • Abrahamson, D., Bryant, M. J., Howison, M. L., & Relaford-Doyle, J. J. (2008, March). Toward a phenomenology of mathematical artifacts: A circumspective deconstruction of a design for the binomial. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, New York, March 24-28. (Manuscript will be emailed upon request)

  • Blikstein, P., Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U. (2008, March). Groupwork as a complex adaptive system: A methodology to model, understand, and design classroom strategies for collaborative learning. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, New York, March 24-28.

  • Veeragoudar Harrell, S., & Abrahamson, D. (2008, March). It takes a virtual village: Living and learning in online virtual reality. In J. Mahiri (Chair & Org.) & C. D. Lee (Discussant), Reversing underachievement: Digital media in teaching and learning with highly marginalized students. Symposium presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association, New York, March 24-28.

  • Abrahamson, D (2007, December). Weaving epistemic & material resources: An embodied-mathematics design-research perspective on situated problem solving. Paper presented at the Research on Embodied Mathematical Cognition, Technology, and Learning (REMCTL) Workshop. Stanford, Palo Alto: Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences (CASBS), Dec 10-11, 2007.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2007, June). From gesture to design: Building cognitively ergonomic learning tools. Paper presented at the annual conference of the International Society for Gesture Studies. Northwestern University, June 18-20. [Download abstract]

  • Abrahamson, D., Wilensky, U., & Levin, J. (2007, April). Agent-based modeling as a bridge between cognitive and social perspectives on learning. In D. Abrahamson (Organizer), U. Wilensky (Chair), & R. Lesh (Discussant), Learning Complexity: Agent-based modeling supporting education research on student cognition in social contexts. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

  • Blikstein, P., Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U. (2007, April). Multi-agent simulation as a tool for investigating cognitive–developmental theory. In D. Abrahamson (Organizer), U. Wilensky (Chair), & R. Lesh (Discussant), Learning Complexity: Agent-based modeling supporting education research on student cognition in social contexts. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2007, April). The real world as a trick question: Undergraduate statistics majors' construction-based modeling of probability. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2006, June). The three M's: Imagination, embodiment, and mathematics. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Baltimore, MD. (contact me for full PowerPoint presentation, including video clips) -- [Download abstract].

  • Blikstein, P., Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U. (2006, June). Minsky, mind, and models: Juxtaposing agent-based computer simulations and clinical-interview data as a methodology for investigating cognitive-developmental theory. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Jean Piaget Society, Baltimore, MD.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2006, May). Grabbing randomness by the marbles: Bridging tools for understanding the Law of Large Numbers. In D. Uttal (Chair), Concrete and abstract: Perspectives from psychology and education. Paper presented at the seventy-eighth annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL, May 4-6.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2006, May). Mathematical intuition -- what is it good for? Reflections from design research on young student understanding of the binomial function. In P. Blikstein & R. Lerner (Org.), Colloquium Series at the School of Education and Social Policy. Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2006, April). Bottom-up stats: Toward an agent-based "unified" probability and statistics. In D. Abrahamson (Org.), U. Wilensky (Chair), and M. Eisenberg (Discussant), Small steps for agents... Giant steps for students?: Learning with agent-based models. Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

  • Wilensky, U., & Abrahamson, D. (2006, April). Is a disease like a lottery?: Classroom networked technology that enables student reasoning about complexity. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, CA.

  • Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U. (2005, June). Piaget? Vygotsky? I'm Game!: Agent-based modeling for psychology research. In M. Mascolo (Chair), Theoretical issues. Paper session conducted at the annual meeting of the Jean Piaget Society. Vancouver, Canada. [See also the accompanying on-line simulation applet]

  • Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U. (2005, April). Collaboration and equity in classroom activities using Statistics As Multi-Participant Learning-Environment Resource (S.A.M.P.L.E.R.). In W. Stroup & U. Wilensky (Chairs), C. D. Lee (Discussant), Patterns in group learning with next-generation network technology. Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada.

  • Abrahamson, D., & Wilensky, U. (2005, April). The stratified learning zone: Examining collaborative-learning design in demographically-diverse mathematics classrooms. In D. Y. White (Chair) & E. H. Gutstein (Discussant), Equity and diversity studies in mathematics learning and instruction. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Montreal, Canada.

  • Abrahamson, D. & Wilensky, U. (2004, April). S.A.M.P.L.E.R.: Statistics As Multi-Participant Learning-Environment Resource. In U. Wilensky (Chair) and S. Papert (Discussant), Networking and complexifying the science classroom: Students simulating and making sense of complex systems using the HubNet networked architecture. Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Diego, CA.

  • Abrahamson, D. (2003, April). A situational–representational didactic design for fostering conceptual understanding of mathematical content: The case of ratio and proportion. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.

  • Abrahamson, D., & Fuson, K. C. (2002, April). Seeing and understanding proportion in the multiplication table. In K. C. Fuson (Chair), Bridging the addition–multiplication learning gap: Teaching studies in four multiplicative domains. Symposium conducted at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA.

  • Workshops

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    Honors and Awards
  • National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship 2005-2006

  • UC Berkeley, Committee on Research (COR): Junior Faculty Research Grant (JFRG) [$6,000] for conducting the project The World as a Trick Question: Mathematical Modeling, Knowledge, and Assessment, 2006-7

  • UC Berkeley, Committee on Research (COR): Faculty Research Grant (FRG) [$5,000] for conducting the project "Kinemathics": Kinetically Induced Mathematical Learning, 2008-9

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    Professional Activities

    Editorial and Review Positions
  • Member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Computers for Mathematics Learning (IJCML), The Journal of the Learning Sciences (JLS)

  • Ad hoc reviewer for Cognitive Science, Educational Studies in Mathematics (ESM), International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education (IJSME), Journal for Research in Mathematics Education (JRME), Journal of Teacher Education (JTE), Mathematical Teaching and Learning (MTL), Statistics Education Research Journal (SERJ)

  • Professional Service
    Co-chair of AERA 2007 Division C Section 3 (mathematics)
    Member, Program Committee, ICLS 2010

    University and GSE Service
    Member, GSE Academic Review Committee (2006 - 7)
    Member, GSE Academic Personnel Committee (2007 - 8)
    Member, GSE Education Minor Committee (2008 - 10)

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    Professional Affiliations and Memberships
  • AERA - American Educational Research Association

  • CogSci - Cognitive Science Society

  • IMBES - International Mind, Brain, and Education Society

  • ISDDE - International Society for Design and Development in Education

  • ISGS - International Society for Gesture Studies

  • ISLS - International Society of the Learning Sciences

  • JPS - Jean Piaget Society

  • PME - International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education

  • PME-NA - International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, North-American Chapter

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    Areas of Specialization / Interests
    Cognitive Development
    Computer-Mediated Learning
    Curriculum Development
    Educational Media
    Experimental Design In Education
    Human-Computer Interface
    Mathematics Education
    Simulation Learning Environments
    Teacher Development
    Technology and Schools

    Last Modified: 11/16/09