Crystal Morton
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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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Item Girls STEM Institute: Impacting Lives through a Loving and Holistic Approach(Center for Translating Research Into Practice, IU Indianapolis, 2024-02-23) Morton, CrystalGirls STEM Institute (GSI) provides an affirming system of support for girls of color focused on STEM (science, engineering, technology, and math) identity and overall wellness and well-being and seeks to rehumanize their STEM learning experiences. During this conversation, Dr. Crystal Morton and her community partners provide an overview of and discuss the ways GSI has positively impacted the lives of program scholars and their families through a loving and holistic approach.Item Introduction to Crystal Morton & Her Work(Center for Translating Research Into Practice, IU Indianapolis, 2024-02) Morton, CrystalIn this video, Dr. Crystal Morton describes her translational research. Girls STEM Institute (GSI) provides an affirming system of support for girls of color focused on STEM (science, engineering, technology, and math) identity and overall wellness and well-being and seeks to rehumanize their STEM learning experiences. Join us as Dr. Crystal Morton provides an overview of and discusses the ways GSI has positively impacted the lives of program scholars and their families through a loving and holistic approach.Item African Americans and Mathematics Outcomes on National Assessment of Educational Progress: Parental and Individual Influences(Springer, 2013-01) Noble, Richard, III; Hill Morton, CrystalThis 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.Item Girls Stem Institute: Transforming and Empowering Black Girls in Mathematics Through Stem(National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2018) Morton, Crystal; Smith-Mutegi, Demetrice; School of EducationWith the growing interest in STEM at both the national and international level, as well as the persistence in racial disparities in educational achievement, it is crucial that educators provide learning experiences that foster the positive development of Black females’ mathematics and science identities. This chapter will describe Girls STEM Institute (GSI), a program designed to support the positive development of Black females as learners and doers of mathematics and science. GSI provides learners who identify as Black and female an opportunity to develop an understanding of mathematics and other STEM concepts in a meaningful and culturally grounded out-of-school context. Within GSI’s rich, rigorous, relevant, and supportive environment, young ladies have the freedom to grow interpersonally and intellectually and are empowered to use STEM as a tool for personal and social change.Item Challenging minds: Enhancing the mathematical learning of African American students through games(Information Age Publishing, 2012) Morton, Crystal; Yow, Jan A.; Cook, Daniela AnnMinority 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.Item Making “it” matter: developing African-American girls and young women’s mathematics and science identities through informal STEM learning(Springer, 2022-03) Morton, Crystal; Smith-Mutegi, Demetrice; School of EducationThis article describes a summer enrichment science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) camp for African-American girls and young women aimed at addressing mathematical and science self-efficacy and reinforcing the importance and usefulness of mathematics and science with a socially transformative curriculum. The research questions guiding this study are (1) How do African-American girl participants describe their experiences in Girls STEM Institute (GSI)? and (2) How does the STEM program experience affect their mathematics and science self-efficacy and valuing of mathematics and science? The data, which included journal entries and interviews, were collected and analyzed from four participants and indicated that participating in the Girls STEM Institute led to improved mathematics and science self-efficacy and increased perceptions of the value of science and math knowledge.Item Black Girls and Mathematics Learning(Oxford, 2020) Morton, Crystal; Tate McMillan, Danielle; Harrison-Jones, WinterbourneThough the formal and informal mathematics learning experiences of Black girls are gaining more visibility in the literature, there is still a paucity of research around Black girls’ mathematics learning experiences. Black girls face unique challenges as learners in K–12 educational spaces because of their marginalized racial and gender identities. The interplay of race and racism unfolds in complex ways in Black girls’ learning experiences. This interplay hinders their development as mathematics learners and limits their access to transformative learning. As early as elementary school, Black girls are labeled as having limited mathematics knowledge and are often disproportionately placed in “lower level classrooms” devoid of any rigorous and transformative learning experiences. Teachers spend more time socially correcting Black girls rather than building on their brilliance. Even though Black girls value mathematics more and have higher confidence in mathematics than their White counterparts, they are still held to lower expectations by their teachers and are less likely to complete an advanced mathematics course. Nationally and globally, mathematics serves as an academic gatekeeper into every avenue of the labor market and higher education opportunities. Thus, the lack of opportunities Black girls have to engage in rigorous and transformative mathematics potentially locks them out of higher education opportunities and STEM-based careers. The mathematics learning experiences of Black girls move beyond challenges in K–12 spaces to limiting life choices and individual and community progress. To improve the formal and informal mathematics learning experiences of Black girls, we must understand their unique learning experiences more fully.Item A Story of African American Students as Mathematics Learners(Ismail Sahin, 2014-07-01) Morton, Crystal HillEducational 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.Item An investigation into sixth grade students’ understanding of ratio and proportion(Sociedade Brasileira de Educação Matemática, 2014) Morton, Crystal HillDrawing 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.Item "I am a teacher. That's what I've done almost all my life. I teach."(Texas Digital Library, 2015-07-30) Berry, Robert Q., III; Ellis, Mark W.; Morton, Crystal H.; Yow, Jan A.
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