February - June, 2006
Member of the Technical Committee for the “Time on Task” study being conducted by World Bank and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD, India), in 6 states. My role so far has been to specify how video recording should be used in this study to give us greater insights into the teaching/learning process in Indian classrooms, and to advise the principal investigators on the software needs of such a study.
Education
Also see Education Publications and Presentations
March 2006, Educational Initiatives (EI), Ahmedabad
EI (www.ei-india.com) offers products and services that help to accurately measure learning, promote self-learning in children and empower educators and school leaders. I am helping with their research by applying principles of Item Response Theory to the item analysis and selection process, and with the development of a contact program for young students that will help them master key concepts in Mathematics.
July 2005 - September 2005, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Visiting Scholar: Developed tools for classroom research. Analyzed data for studies on how children learn to read, and how novices and experts watch classroom video.
June 2004 - June 2005, NEEV, India
Senior Researcher: Curriculum mapping; qualitative video-based research on classroom processes.
May 2005, British Council Library, New Delhi, India
Conducted a day-long Mathematics appreciation and enjoyment workshop for 12-14 year students, as part of the Newton’s Playground series of workshops.
May 2004
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Department of Educational Psychology (Division of Cognition, Language, Learning, Instruction and Culture)
More…
July 2002 - Current, Ask Dr. Math, Math Forum, Drexel University
Member of the team of Math doctors at www.mathforum.org/dr.math, an award winning online question and answer service for math students and their teachers.
August 2001 - December, 2002, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Teaching Assistant for three semesters for ‘Computer Simulation in the Social Sciences,’ a graduate level methods course that uses the Mathematica programming language to simulate macro-level phenomena using agent-based interactions. The course was taught by Richard Gaylord.
September 2000 - May 2004, Cognitive Development Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Research Assistant - with Kevin Miller [University of Michigan, Beckman Institute, TimelySnow]:
- Analysed sequences of behavioral interactions and determined country specific patterns in the video data of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 1999) [Finding-Patterns-In-Sequences-Kumar-2004.pdf];
- Studied how teachers learn from video cases of math education;
- Analysed the differences between American and Chinese fourth grade mathematics lessons;
- Investigated the influence recreational math activities may have on children’s understanding of mathematical concepts and their intrinsic motivation to learn mathematics.
June 2000 - July 2000, SECMOL, Ladakh, India
Resource Person: Assisted a mathematics program for primary teachers organized by the Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh.
May 2000, Nirantar, Lucknow, India
Resource Person: Trained rural middle-school math teachers in the use of innovative math activities.
November 1999 - May 2000, National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi, India
Research Assistant: Collected and analysed data, and drafted a report for a study on the policy implications of Operation Blackboard - a primary education resource initiative by the Government of India. The study was conducted by Dr AK Jalaluddin (former Jt Director NCERT, UNDP Consultant for Bangladesh Education, and Director, Directorate of Adult Education, India)
May 1999 - September 1999, Centre for Research in Cognitive Systems, NIIT, New Delhi, India
Research Associate: Studied the impact of a project on ‘Minimally Invasive Education’ (MIE). Presented a paper on “Learning from Kiosks” at the F13 Conference at Dwarka, August, 1999. More…
November 1999 - February 2000, NEEV, and Cambridge Primary School, New Delhi, India
Coordinated and implemented the math program at a learning improvement project for Grade III children conducted by Prof AK Jalaluddin.
June 1999, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, India
Illustrated course material for the distance education B.Ed Program.
May 1999 - June 1999, NEEV, New Delhi, India
As a Co-organizer and Facilitator, I developed and implemented the Mathematics curriculum of a month-long creative learning workshop organized by Prof AK Jalaluddin
April 1999, Army Public School, Udhampur (Army HQ, Northern Command), India
Conducted a week long Mathematics appreciation and enjoyment workshop for all Grade IX students.
July 1998 - September 1999, Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, New Delhi, India
Created innovations in mathematics education as a consultant for the middle school Mathematics program. I worked in conjunction with the regular mathematics teachers and, based on their requirements, designed and implemented games and activities in and out of the classroom that either introduced a new concept, developed mathematical skills or reinforced a particular idea. The primary objective was to make learning mathematics more interesting and fun.
May 1996 - June 1998, Tata McGraw Hill, New Delhi, India
Co-authored (with Jaya Narasimhan) and illustrated a series of three Mathematics textbooks for middle school published by a division of McGraw Hill. (ISBN 0-07-463294-9, 0-07-463295-7, 0-07-463297-3). The series has been acclaimed for its use of cartoons and puzzles.
June 1995 - July 1995, R&D Center, National Institute of Information Technology (NIIT), New Delhi, India
Resource person for teaching animation to children of the age group 9 to 12, as part of a five day LEDA (Learning through Exploration and Development Activity) workshop.
January 1995 - May 1995, Center for Software Development, BITS Pilani, India
Course design and animation for multimedia courseware on ‘Multiplication for Kids’ and ‘The Physics of Sound’.
May 1994 - June 1994, R&D Center, NIIT, New Delhi, India
Animation and Graphics for an interactive multimedia package on AIDS Awareness and Sex Education