Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations Department of Middle and Secondary Education Summer 1-20-2020 Creating Mathenstein: Exploring the Construction and Development of Mathematical Identity for K–12 Students Akhenaten Hotep Amun Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/mse_diss Recommended Citation Amun, Akhenaten Hotep, "Creating Mathenstein: Exploring the Construction and Development of Mathematical Identity for K–12 Students." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2020. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/mse_diss/88 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of Middle and Secondary Education at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Middle and Secondary Education Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ACCEPTANCE PAGE This dissertation, CREATING MATHENSTEIN: EXPLORING THE CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MATHEMATICAL IDENTITY FOR K–12 STUDENTS, by AKHENATEN HOTEP AMUN, was prepared under the direction of the candidate’s Dissertation Advisory Committee. It is accepted by the committee members in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree, Doctor of Philosophy, in the College of Education and Human Development, Georgia State University. The Dissertation Advisory Committee and the student’s Department Chairperson, as representatives of the faculty, certify that this dissertation has met all standards of excellence and scholarship as determined by the faculty. ____________________________________ David W. Stinson, Ph. D. Committee Chair ____________________________________ ____________________________________ Joyce E. King, Ph. D. Janice B. Fournillier, Ph. D. Committee Member Committee Member ____________________________________ Christine D. Thomas, Ph. D. Committee Member ____________________________________ Date ____________________________________ Gertrude Tinker Sachs, Ph.D. Chairperson, Department of Middle and Secondary Education ____________________________________ Paul A. Alberto, Ph.D. Dean, College of Education and Human Development AUTHOR’S STATEMENT By presenting this dissertation as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the advanced degree from Georgia State University, I agree that the library of Georgia State University shall make it available for inspection and circulation in accordance with its regulations governing materials of this type. I agree that permission to quote, to copy from, or to publish this dissertation may be granted by the professor under whose direction it was written, by the College of Education and Human Development’s Director of Graduate Studies, or by me. Such quoting, copying, or publishing must be solely for scholarly purposes and will not involve potential financial gain. It is understood that any copying from or publication of this dissertation which involves potential financial gain will not be allowed without my written permission. ________________________________________________ Akhenaten Hotep Amun NOTICE TO BORROWERS All dissertations deposited in the Georgia State University library must be used in accordance with the stipulations prescribed by the author in the preceding statement. The author of this dissertation is: Akhenaten Hotep Amun Department of Middle and Secondary Education College of Education and Human Development Georgia State University The director of this dissertation is: David W. Stinson, Ph.D. Department of Middle and Secondary Education College of Education and Human Development Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 30303 CURRICULUM VITAE Akhenaten Hotep Amun 209 Topeka Court Stockbridge, GA 30281 [email protected] EDUCATION: Ph.D. 2019 Teaching and Learning – Mathematics Education Department of Middle and Secondary Education Georgia State University M.Ed. 2006 Educational Leadership Department of Educational Leadership Florida Agricultural &Mechanical University B.S. Ed. 2004 Elementary Education Department of Education Bethune-Cookman University PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 2018–Present Title I Academic Coach Riverdale High School in Riverdale, Georgia 2018–Present CEO/President Jamii Community Development Corporation, LLC 2016-Present Educational Consultant AchieveMeant Educational Solutions, LLC 2015–2018 STEAM Coordinator/Instructional Math Coach Stockbridge High School 2012–2015 High School Mathematics Teacher Stockbridge High School 2010–2012 High School Mathematics Teacher Woodland High School in Stockbridge, Georgia 2008–2016 Online Course Designer and Virtual Teacher Henry County Online Academy/Impact Academy 2007–2010 High School Mathematics Teacher Luella High School in Locust Grove, Georgia PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS: Amun, A. H. (2017, June). Academics: Creating students with strong academic identities, talk presented at the 2017 IDEA Conference, Atlanta, GA. Amun, A. H. (2017, March). Understanding the construction and development of mathematical identity for K–12 students, paper presented at the 12th Annual Education and Development Conference, Bangkok, Thailand. Amun, A. H., & Sadhasivan, M. (2015, October). Personalized digital learning portfolio in Microsoft OneNote (grades 6-12), presentation at the 56th Annual Georgia Mathematics Conference, Eaton, GA. Amun, A. H., Watson, E., & Sadhasivan, M. (2015, November). Pathways to success: Designing the right pathways for students in STEAM, talk presented at the 2nd Annual Griffin RESA Drive-In STEM Conference, Griffin, GA. Amun, A. H., Watson, E., & Sadhasivan, M. (2014, November). Starting a STEM program with nothing, talk presented at the Inaugural Griffin RESA Drive-In STEM Conference, Griffin, GA. Amun, A. H. (2014, May). Looking back at where we’re going: Learning, teaching, and policymaking as a black male, talk presented at the Tenth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry in Champaign-Urbana, IL. Amun, A. H. (2013, May). The hidden message: A critical analysis of educational policy discourse, paper presented at the Ninth International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Champaign-Urbana, IL. PROFESSIONAL SOCIEITES AND ORGANIZATIONS: 2019 Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE) 2019 Georgia Council of Teachers of Mathematics (GCTM) ABSTRACT CREATING MATHENSTEIN: EXPLORING THE CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MATHEMATICAL IDENTITY FOR K–12 STUDENTS by AKHENATEN HOTEP AMUN Under the Direction of Dr. David W. Stinson Research and scholarship in mathematics education address a variety of concepts that benefit students and influences the pedagogy of educators responsible for improving student learning and achievement. Recently, mathematics education researchers have investigated the effects and outcomes of instructional practices (e.g., Shirvani, 2009), technology integration (e.g., Wachira & Keengwe, 2011), the revision or modernization of standards and content development (e.g., Thomas & Edson, 2015), achievement gaps (e.g., Flores, 2007), science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational initiatives (e.g., Stohlmann, Moore, McClelland, & Roehrig, 2011), student achievement or performance (e.g., Harwell, Post, Medhanie, Dupuis, & LeBeau, 2013), and student growth (Betebenner, 2009). Experiences as a student and throughout my 12-year teaching career have influenced my belief that student engagement, performance, and achievement associated with the aforementioned facets of mathematics education research are dependent on a student’s mathematical identity: (a) belief in her or his ability to engage and be successful in mathematics; (b) belief in the utility, value, and significance of mathematics in relation to her or his personal and cultural identity; and (c) her or his experiences with K–12 mathematics both inside and outside the classroom (Martin, 2000). To explore the construction and development of mathematical identity, Afrocentricity (e.g., Asante, 1983) and analytic autoethnography (e.g., R. Anderson, 2006) were used to study my personal experiences and the shared experiences with my participants from our time as students in elementary, middle, and high school. The goal of this study was to identify the practices, policies, and experiences related to the components of our mathematical identities to better understand how to assist students in the construction and development of their own positive mathematical identities. An analysis of the data revealed that school culture, engagement with mathematics beyond the classroom, and connections between content in K–12 mathematics and related outcomes after graduation are essential to establishing experiences that prepare students for a lifetime of numbers, calculations, estimations, mathematical reasoning, and a variety of mathematics related phenomena. Implications for students, parents, teachers, administrators, counselors, and others involved with the K–12 experiences of students are discussed. INDEX WORDS: Afrocentricity, Analytic autoethnography, African Diaspora, Mathematical identity CREATING MATHENSTEIN: EXPLORING THE CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF MATHEMATICAL IDENTITY FOR K–12 STUDENTS by AKHENATEN HOTEP AMUN A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Department of Middle and Secondary Education in the College of Education and Human Development Georgia State University Atlanta, GA 2019 Copyright by Akhenaten