About

Dr. Krista Francis is an associate professor in Educational Studies in Learning Sciences at Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary.

Krista’s research into spatial reasoning has prompted a problematization of educational practices. Despite the volume of scientific evidence that teaching spatial reasoning in mathematics classrooms yields strong gains in terms of learner achievement and understanding, there is little uptake in North American classrooms. As Krista interrogated the educational practices that impeded the teaching and learning of spatial reasoning, she analyzed over 5000 learning discourses using conceptual metaphor theory. It turns out that there are only a few conceptual metaphors influencing these 5000 discourses and most (if not all) of these metaphors are spatial. For instance, the attainment metaphor (i.e.. getting to a destination or goal) implies a uni-directional, sequenced, step-by-step approach to teaching and learning. This notion of getting somewhere is found across many, many learning discourses influencing educational practices. As such, the notion of dwelling in processes that engage and develop spatial reasoning are inconsistent. Krista’s research directly attempts to address this inconsistency.

Stefan Rothschuh is a doctoral student in mathematics education at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary. His dissertation project explores high school students’ technologically enhanced embodied learning of functional relations.