Degrees and Certifications

Responsibilities

Academic Interests

Biography

Dr. Thomas Edwards taught mathematics for 24 years in grades 7-12 in the Buffalo, NY Public Schools.  In 1991, he began doctoral studies in mathematics education at the Ohio State University, completing the PhD in 1994.  He accepted a tenure-track position at Wayne State University beginning with the 1994-95 academic year, was tenured and promoted to the rank of associate professor in 2000, and was promoted to the rank of full professor in 2010.

Dr. Edwards's primary research interests are teaching school mathematics in the context of real world problems, the integration of technology, especially graphing calculators, in school mathematics instruction, and the means by which students of all ages acquire mathematical understanding.  He has published articles that address these issues across a number of grade levels, as evidenced by his publications in Teaching Children Mathematics, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, Mathematics Teacher, and the College Mathematics Journal.

In 2012, Dr. Edwards was appointed Interim Associate Dean for Research, and in 2017, Interim Associate Dean for Teacher Education.

Area of Expertise

Research Interests

Awards

•  2003
  Wayne State University 2003-2004 Career Development Chair Award

 

Grants

•  Project IMPRINT (Improving Proportional Reasoning using Engineering Tasks)
  2013 - 2016
• Project MEDeATe: Mathematics Education for Detroit Area Teachers
  2013 - 2014
• Mathematics Instruction using Decision Science and Engineering Tools (MINDSET)
  2007 - 2013
  Project MINDSET is developing a curriculum and supporting textbook for a fourth-year high school course in applied mathematics. The course builds on school mathematics through Algebra 2, and is applications-based and problem-driven. All of the problem contexts are real-world problems drawn from the fields of industrial engineering and operations research.
• Human Factors in Space Exploration
  2008 - 2009

 

Community Engagement Activities

Governing Board, Benjamin Carson High School of Science & Medecine

Presentations

•  Ready to Run a Business? Linking LEGO and Algebra
  Edwards, T.G., Özgün-Koca, S. A. & Chelst, K. R. 4 2016 94th Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• When will we ever use this? How to get the task right
  Chelst, K.R., *Edwards, T. G.*, & Wilhelm, T. 4 2015 Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Ross Taylor Symposium for Mathematics Education and Leadership
• Exercise Big Mac away: Ratios, rates, and proportions in context
  Özgün-Koca, S. A. & *Edwards, T. G.* 4 2015 93rd Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• Using binomial and geometric distributions to make real-world decisions
  Chelst, K. R. & *Edwards, T. G.* 4 2015 93rd Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• “What if?” questions in real world contexts: Sensitivity analysis
  *Edwards, T. G.*, Özgün-Koca, S. A., & Chelst, K. R. 4 2014 92nd Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• Does this line ever move? Use polynomials to find out!
  Chelst, K., *Edwards, T.G.* & Özgün-Koca, S. A. 4 2014 92nd Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• Unpacking our knowledge: Ratios, rates and percentages in context
  *Edwards, T. G.*, & Özgün-Koca, S. A 3 2013 Conversations Among Colleagues
• Model with mathematics comes to life vial real-world contexts.
  *Edwards, T. G.* 3 2015 Conversations Among Colleagues
• GeoGebra and Solver Software for Solving Mathematical Programming Problems
  Edwards, T. G. 5 2013 Third International Conference on the Mathematical Sciences, University of Buea, Cameroon
• How many to order: Controlling inventory
  *Edwards, T. G.*, Ozgun-Koca, S. A., & Chelst, K. R. 4 2013 91st Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• Using technology to support understanding in a high poverty school
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Ozgun-Koca, S. A. 3 2012 1st Annual Wayne State University College of Education Poverty Conference and Symposium
• Think outside the box: Multiple, linked representations and boxplots
  Ozgun-Koca, S. A. & *Edwards, T. G.* 4 2012 90th Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• Trees bloom decisions when cultivated with probability and expected value
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Ozgun-Koca, S. A. 4 2012 90th Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• A students' reach should exceed her grasp, or what's technology for?
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Ozgun-Koca, S. A. 11 2012 34th Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education
• Fostering beliefs and views of pre-service middle school mathematics teachers about technology
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Ozgun-Koca, S. A. 10 2011 33rd Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education
• A comparison of mathematics teachers' and students' views on the new generation handheld technology
  Ozgun-Koca, S. A. & *Edwards, T. G.* 9 2009 31st Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education
• The effects of multiple linked representations: An analysis of clinical interviews
  Edwards, T. G. & Ozgun-Koca, S. A. 2011 Annual Fall Conference of the School Science and Mathematics Association
• Tale of two cities: Complementary or opposing views of students and teachers
  Ozgun-Koca, S. A. & Edwards, T. G. 2011 Annual Fall Conference of the School Science and Mathematics Association
• Project MINDSET
  Chelst, K.R. & Edwards, T. G. 2011 Conference for the International Federation of Operational Research Societies
• Studying the quadratic function: A historical and technological perspective
  Edwards, T. G. & Ozgun-Koca, S. A. 2011 89th Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• Fostering TPACK development in pre-service middle school mathematics teachers
  Edwards, T. G. & Ozgun-Koca, S. A. 2011 15th Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators
• Using TI-Nspire to discover the corner point principle
  Edwards, T. G. & Ozgun-Koca, S. A. 2010 88th Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• A comparison of pre-service and in-service teachers beliefs about TI-Nspire following an initial experience
  Edwards, T. G. & Ozgun-Koca, S. A. 2010 14th Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators
• Learning about regression with real and virtual spaghetti
  Edwards, T. G. & Ozgun-Koca, S. A. 2009 the 87th Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• The analysis of mathematics teachers' and students' initial experiences with and views on the new generation of graphing calculator
  Edwards, T. G. & Ozgun-Koca, S. A. 2009 13th Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators

 

Publications

•  Interpretations of box plots: Helping middle school students to see outside the box
  Edwards, T. G. & Özgün-Koca, S. A. 2017 Journal of Statistics Education 25(1)
• From percentages to algebra: Using authentic problem contexts
  Chelst, K. R., Edwards, T. G., Ferry, D., & Srock, M. 2017 Applied Mathematical Practices
• When will I ever use this?: Probabilistic Modeling
  Chelst, K. R. & Edwards, T.G. 2015 Applied Mathematical Practices
• When will I ever use this? Deterministic Modeling
  *Edwards, T. G. & Chelst, K. R.* 2015 Applied Mathematical Practices
• Students' mathematical conjectures when interacting with a mobile device
  Özgün-Koja, S. A. & Edwards, T. G. 2 2015 In Traxler & Crompton (Eds.), Mobile learning and mathematics: Foundations, design and case studies
• Linear programming in the classroom using GeoGebra
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Chelst, K. R. 5 2015 Mathematics Teaching 246
• Rethinking ratios, rates, and percentages
  Chelst, K. R., Özgün-Koca, S. A., & *Edwards, T. G.* 5 2014 Mathematics Teaching 240
• Investigating integer restrictions in linear programming
  *Edwards, T. G.*, Chelst, K. R., Principato, A., & Wilhelm, T. 2015 Mathematics Teacher 109(2)
• Linking LEGO and algebra
  Özgün-Koca, S. A., *Edwards, T. G.* & Chelst, K. R. 2015 Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School 20(7)
• Linear programming with several decision variables
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Chelst, K. R. 2014 Mathematics Teacher 108(1)
• Media clips: Proportions! Proportions!
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Özgün-Koca, S. A. 2014 Mathematics Teacher 107(8)
• Using clinical interviews to understand students' learning processes in a technological environment
  Ozgun-Koca, S. A., *Edwards, T. G.* 2013 Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of PME-NA
• A students' reach should exceed her grasp, or what's technology for?
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Ozgun-Koca, S. A. 2012 Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of PME-NA
• Developing authentic real world problems
  *Edwards, T. G.*, Ozgun-Koca, S. A., & Chelst, K. R. 2013 Mathematics in Michigan 46(2)
• Exercise away the Big Mac: Ratios, rates, and proportions in context
  Ozgun-Koca, S. A., *Edwards, T. G.*, & Chelst, K. R. 2013 Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School 19(3)
• Controlling inventory: Real world mathematical modeling
  *Edwards, T. G.*, Ozgun-Koca, S. A., & Chelst, K. R. 2013 Mathematics Teacher 107(1)
• Interpreting boxplots with multiple linked representations
  Ozgun-Koca, S. A. & *Edwards, T. G.* 2013 Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School 18(8)
• Pythagorean triples served for dessert
  Edwards, T. G. 2000 Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School 5(7)
• Using probability experiments to foster discourse
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Hensien, S. M. 2000 Teaching Children Mathematics 6(8)
• Some �big ideas� for algebra in the early middle grades
  Edwards, T. G. 2000 Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School 6(1)
• Early O.R. education
  Chelst, K. & *Edwards, T.* 2012 OR/MS Today 39(4)
• When will I ever use this stuff?
  Chelst, K., *Edwards , T.*, Young, R., Keene, K., Norwood, K. & Pugalee, D. 2010 OR/MS Today 37(4)
• Hands-on, minds-on or both? A discussion of the development of a mathematics activity by using virtual and physical manipulatives
  Ozgun-Koca, S. A. & Edwards, T. G. 2011 Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching 30(4)
• Influences of Constructivist - Oriented Nutrition Education on Urban Middle School Students' Nutrition Knowledge, Self-Efficacy and Behaviors.
  McCaughtry, N., Fahlman, MM., Martin, J., and Shen, B. 2011 American Journal of Health Education. 42
• Virtual data collection for real understanding
  Ozgun-Koca, S. A, & *Edwards, T. G.* 2011 Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School 16(6)
• Using TI-Nspire to enhance the teaching of a geometric theorem
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Ozgun-Koca, S.A. 2010 Journal of the Research Center for Educational Technology 6(2)
• Studying the quadratic function from a to c: An historical perspective.
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Ozgun-Koca, S.A. 2010 Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School 15(8)
• Math Corps Summer Camp: An inner city intervention program
  *Edwards, T.*, Kahn, S. & Brenton, L. 2001 Journal of Education for Students Placed At Risk 6(4)
• Queueing theory: A rational approach to the problem of waiting in line
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Chelst, K. R. 2002 Mathematics Teacher 95(5)
• Sets of sets: A cognitive obstacle
  Brenton, L. & *Edwards, T. G.* 2003 College Mathematics Journal 34(1)
• The HSOR project: Insinuating OR into high school mathematics classrooms
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Chelst, K. R. 2004 INFORMS Transactions in Education 4(3)
• Does this line ever move? Everyday applications of operations research.
  Chelst, K. R. & *Edwards, T. G.* 2005 .
• Using ancient Egyptian fractions to review fraction concepts
  *Edwards, T. G.* 2005 Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School 10(5)
• Purchasing a used car using multiple criteria decision-making
  *Edwards, T.G.* & Chelst. K.R. 2007 Mathematics Teacher 101(2)
• The new generation of handheld calculators: Can your students "Bend it like Beckham?"
  Ozgun-Koca, S. A. & *Edwards, T. G.* 2008 Mathematics Teacher 102(1)
• Using the ancient method of false position to find solutions
  *Edwards, T. G.* 2008 Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School 14(4)
• Project MINDSET: High School Mathematics and Operations Research
  Chelst, K., *Edwards , T.*, Young, R., Keene, K., & Royster, D. 2008 TutORials in Operations Research 2008
• Can You Imagine ... 500,000 Prep Proponents of O.R.?
  Chelst, K., *Edwards , T.*, Young, R., Keene, K., & Royster, D. 2008 OR/MS Today 35(4)
• Pre-service teachers' reflections on the new generation of learning handhelds
  Ozgun-Koca, S. A. & *Edwards, T. G.* 8 2008 TI Newsletter: MTE-online
• Creating a mathematical "B" Movie: The effect of b on the graph of a quadratic
  *Edwards, T. G.* & Ozgun-Koca, S. A. 2009 Mathematics Teacher 103(3)
• Drawing a regression line between spaghetti and basketball?
  Ozgun-Koca, S. A. & *Edwards, T. G.* 2010 Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School 16(1)

 

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