Ken Wolff (left) and Evan Maletsky (second from right) chaired the dissertation committees for Montclair State's first students to complete a doctoral program, Martha Baklarz Croley (second from left) and Deborah Ives.

Martha Baklarz Croley and Deborah Ives made history this summer when they became the first Montclair State students to earn a doctoral degree. Both public school teachers earned a doctor of education (Ed.D.) in pedagogy with a specialization in mathematics education. The University also offers an Ed.D. with a specialization in philosophy for children.

Montclair State gained approval for its first doctoral program in 1998 and a class of 16 students began study in the summer of 1999. Croley and Ives are the first to complete the program, successfully defending their dissertations in July.

"This is a significant accomplishment for the University and for these two students as they completed their program in four years while continuing to work as teachers in the public schools," said Montclair State President Susan A. Cole.

Ives, a mathematics supervisor in West Milford, presented "The Development of Seventh Graders’ Conceptual Understanding of Geometry and Spatial Visualization Abilities Using Mathematical Representations with Dynamic Models." The study explored the role of representations in mathematical learning and their relationship to students’ conceptual understanding of geometry and measurement.

With many students in grade seven encountering difficulties making translations from external representations to internal abstract structures, this study sheds light on how the process occurs, specifically as it relates to cognitive building blocks in the area of internal representations, providing results that have implications for curriculum design and practice.
Evan Maletsky '53 '54 M.A. of Mathematical Sciences and Montclair State's most senior faculty member, chaired Ives' dissertation committee. Others on the committee were retired Montclair State mathematics professor Max Sobel, Tamara Lucas of Educational Foundations and James Fey from the University of Maryland.

"Deb's study adds to the research available on the critical role the middle school grades play in the students' development of thinking skills in mathematics," Maletsky said. "Furthermore, it focuses on the key topics of geometry and measurement, two content areas where assessment has indicated a great need for improvement."

Maletsky said a unique component of Ives' research was the preparation of three creative, one-week units incorporating activities involving the dynamics of change, which served as the basis for her analysis. "This material will be valuable for both students and teachers, especially those needing to develop better spatial visualization skills," he said. "We plan to use these activities and this research in the geometry course that is part of our current workforce grant project for middle school mathematics teachers."

Croley, a mathematics teacher and team leader at Bloomfield Middle School, successfully defended her dissertation, "Factors That Produce and Reduce Mathematics Anxiety as Perceived by Seventh-Grade Females." Data for the qualitative study was based on a series of interviews with 25 seventh-grade females whose scores on the MARS survey indicated they had above-average mathematics anxiety. The students participated in three in-depth group interviews and reported the most influential factors for both producing and reducing mathematics anxiety as teachers, behavior of classmates, pace and extent of mathematics curriculum, and parents and siblings.

The study documented the significant effect that teachers have on both producing and reducing mathematics anxiety. It also contained concrete suggestions for teachers to use that could reduce anxiety in their students.

"Mathematics anxiety corresponds to lower levels of mathematics achievement and is considered a major reason many females decide not to pursue further study or careers in quantitative disciplines," said Kenneth Wolff '63 of Mathematical Sciences, who chaired Croley's dissertation committee. Other members were department colleague Anthony Piccolino, Juan Miguel Fernandez-Balboa of Curriculum and Teaching, and John Dossey from Illinois State University.

"While other researchers have interviewed math-anxious females, those studies usually involved university students," Wolff said. "Martha's study is significant because it addresses math-anxious females at a critical age and grade level, when students often decide what careers and academic areas they will pursue," Wolff said. "Some of the students' suggestions for reducing mathematics anxiety were surprisingly perceptive."

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