Crystal Morton

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https://hdl.handle.net/1805/37543

Girls STEM Institute: Impacting Lives through a Loving and Holistic Approach

Dr. Crystal Morton is an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Urban Teacher Education at IUPUI School of Education. Currently, she is the Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development, Director of Research for the Great Lakes Equity Center, and a Board member for Tech Point Foundation for Youth. She is also the founder and director of Girls STEM Institute. Girls STEM Institute aims to transform communities by empowering girls of color to become leaders, innovators, and educators who use STEM as a tool for personal and social change.

Dr. Morton’s scholarly work focuses on secondary mathematics education, emphasizing the role of informal STEM learning in fostering equitable and transformative mathematics teaching and learning experiences. She primarily examines the learning experiences and specifically mathematics learning experiences of Black girls in grades 3-12.

As a former high school mathematics teacher, she is passionate about providing historically marginalized populations opportunities to become the next generation of STEM professionals, leaders, and decision-makers.

Dr. Morton's commitment to provide young ladies of color (ages 9-18) with opportunities to develop an understanding of mathematics and other STEM concepts in meaningful and culturally grounded contexts is another great example of how IUPUI's faculty members are TRANSLATING their RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE.

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Socially transformative science pedagogy for African American males: Dispatches from the vanguard
(Institute for the Study of the African-American Child, 2012) Mutegi, Jomo W.; Morton, Crystal Hill
Although there is a significant body of work that underscores the importance of pedagogy aimed at being responsive to students’ unique racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, there is relatively little work that helps science practitioners to understand what this pedagogy looks like in practice. Drawing on Mutegi’s (2011) description of socially transformative mathematics and science curriculum and Ladson-Billings’ (1995) framing of culturally responsive pedagogy, this article describes a four-week summer science camp for African American adolescent males. The article employs the methodological approach of Critical Race Theory in order to illustrate for the reader what socially transformative and culturally relevant science instruction might look like in practice.
Challenging minds: Enhancing the mathematical learning of African American students through games
(Information Age Publishing, 2012) Morton, Crystal; Yow, Jan A.; Cook, Daniela Ann
Minority Access to Revolutionary Instructional Extensions (MATRIX) is a two-part pilot project that couples parent engagement and supplemental mathematics instruction. The MATRIX supplemental mathematics curriculum is built around six games designed to foster the mathematical development of elementary students. This article describes the MATRIX mathematics curriculum and provides findings related to the project’s impact on African American students’ number sense and attitudes towards mathematics.
Lessons learned from a community math project: Ethnomathematical games & opportunities for teacher leadership
(North American Study Group on Ethnomathematics, 2013) Yow, Jan A.; Morton, Crystal Hill; Cook, Daniella
Minority Access to Revolutionary Instructional Extensions (MATRIX) is a two-part supplemental elementary mathematics curriculum based on six games coupled with a focus on parental involvement and advocacy. One curricular goal incorporates student’s culture into its design to show mathematics comes from many cultures and is an evolving discipline in which students can be active participants. The article data comes from a larger pilot study conducted in a rural African American community. This article speaks specifically about the ethnomathematical games in the curriculum in addition to discussing the “lessons learned” by the researchers for the opportunity for teachers to be leaders in incorporating community cultures into classroom practice
African Americans and Mathematics Outcomes on National Assessment of Educational Progress: Parental and Individual Influences
(Springer, 2013-01) Noble, Richard, III; Hill Morton, Crystal
This study investigated within group differences between African American female and male students who participated in the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics assessment. Using results from participating states, we compare average scale scores of African American students based on home regulatory environment and interest in mathematics. Results indicated that African American male students who discussed studies 2–3 times a week scored higher than African American female students who discussed studies every day. In three states (Connecticut, Florida, and New Jersey), African American males who never or hardly ever discussed studies at home scored higher than African American males who never or hardly ever discussed studies at home in the state of Arkansas. In two states (Florida and New Jersey), African American males who discussed studies every few weeks scored higher than African American males who discussed studies every few weeks in Arkansas. In four states (Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, and New Jersey), the overall scale scores of African American males was higher than those of African American males in Arkansas. As a result of the findings, we present practical implications for parents of African American students.
African American Female Students’ Mathematics Experiences
(Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2013-04-05) Berhane, Saba Na'Imah; Morton, Crystal
Given the paucity of studies that focus specifically on African American female students in relation to mathematical development, this study is an effort to address the gap in empirical knowledge. Using interview data, this qualitative pilot study sought to understand African American female middle school students’ perceptions of: (1) mathematics; (2) themselves as learners and (3) their mathematics learning experiences. This study focused on the middle school years, because it is during these years that students solidify their conception of self as mathematics learners, develop stable beliefs about their ability to do mathematics and the importance of mathematics. Common themes emerged from the data, including strong identities as learners and positive attitudes towards academic success in general and in mathematics.
An investigation into sixth grade students’ understanding of ratio and proportion
(Sociedade Brasileira de Educação Matemática, 2014) Morton, Crystal Hill
Drawing on written assessments collected from 58 sixth grade students, this article discusses the results of a study that examined patterns in middle-grade boy’s and girl’s written problem solving strategies for a mathematical task involving proportional reasoning and their level of understanding of ratios and proportions. This work is a part of a larger, longitudinal project, Mathematics Identity Development and Learning (MIDDLE), that focused on the impact of mathematics reform on students’ development as mathematics knowers and learners and identifying processes the explains changes in students’ mathematical learning and self-conceptions. Findings the current work speaks to student strategy use, errors, and levels of understanding.
A Story of African American Students as Mathematics Learners
(Ismail Sahin, 2014-07-01) Morton, Crystal Hill
Educational systems throughout the world serve students from diverse populations. Often students from minority populations (i.e. racial, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic) face unique challenges when learning in contexts based on the cultural traditions and learning theories of the majority population. These challenges often leave minority populations labeled as incompetent, unmotivated, and cognitively deficit. In the United States, African American female students are among minority populations who are often positioned as deficit when compared to the majority White population. This study investigates middle school African American female perceptions of themselves as learners and students’ knowledge of the meaning of ratio, proportionality, and how to apply and explain their application of proportionality concepts by examining written problem solving strategies over a three-year period. Students’ responses are analyzed according to the strategies they used to reach their final solution. The categories of strategies include no-response, guess and check, additive build up with and without a pictorial representation, and multiplicative. The majority of students in this study 86.5%, 69.2%, and 68.6% did not attempt or demonstrated no understanding in year one, two, and three respectively. Additionally, participants reported positive dispositions about themselves as mathematics learners.
Prospective Elementary Mathematics Teacher Content Knowledge: What Do We Know, What Do We Not Know, and Where Do We Go?
(University of Montana (Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library), 2014-08-01) Thanheiser, Eva; Browning, Christine; Edson, Alden; Lo, Jane-Jane; Whitacre, Ian; Olanoff, Dana; Morton, Crystal
In this Special Issue, the authors reviewed 112 research studies from 1978 to 2012 on prospective elementary teachers’ content knowledge in five content areas: whole numbers and operations, fractions, decimals, geometry and measurement, and algebra. Looking across these studies, this final paper identifies the trends and common themes in terms of the counts and types of studies and commonalities among findings. Analyses of the counts show that the number of articles published each year focusing on prospective teacher (PT) content knowledge is increasing. Most articles across the content areas show that PTs tend to rely on procedures rather than concepts. However, the focus of most articles is identifying PTs’ misconceptions rather than understanding PTs’ conceptions and the development thereof. Both the limitations of the reviews and the directions for future research studies are elaborated.
Mathematical Content Knowledge for Teaching Elementary Mathematics: A Focus on Decimals
(University of Montana, 2014-08-01) Kastberg, Signe; Morton, Crystal
In the last 25 years a small collection of reports of studies focused on gaining insight into PTs’ knowledge of decimals has been published. Three themes are used to frame findings from papers published prior to 1998. Additional findings from papers published between 1998 and 2011 are discussed. Direction for future research that can contribute to the development of curriculum and instruction in mathematics teacher education is shared.
God Consciousness Enacted: Living, Moving, and Having my Being in Him
(Washington State University, 2015) Cannon, Mercedes A.; Morton, Crystal H.
Spirituality, historically and contemporarily, has played a crucial role in African American women's navigation of the academy. Drawing on Cozart's (2010) conceptualization of spirituality as God consciousness, this article provides a personal account of an African American graduate student's journey towards her doctoral degree at a predominately white institution. According to Cozart (2010), God consciousness guides one in her interactions within her community and the decisions one makes within those spaces. The authors share how God consciousness provides a lens to perceive, understand, and overcome challenges African American women face in the academy.

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