Jessica Hunt

Bio

Jessica Hunt began her career in education as a middle school mathematics teacher in a technology demonstration school in Florida. From that work, she grew to love teaching students at risk for mathematics difficulties or disabilities. Hunt argues that mathematics instruction for these students should (a) uncover strengths, (b) give access to their mathematical reasoning, and (c) support the advance of that reasoning.

Research Description

Jessica Hunt’s research innovates research and instructional practice, including interventions, using practices from both mathematics education and special education such that students with disabilities can build agency and mathematics proficiency in STEM and STEM-related disciplines.  Specifically, she designs and tests asset based learning environments with and for students to understand, support, and extend agency and learning. She also works with teachers to support their agency and lifelong learning in STEM. Hunt received NSF’s prestigious Early CAREER Research Award to fund her program of research. 

Jessica Hunt’s current and past projects, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Institute for Educational Sciences (IES), North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC-DPI), the NC State Foundation, and NC State include “Teacher Professional Development and Collaboration to Integrate CyberSecurity in Mathematics and Science Elementary Curriculum (CIMS)”,  “Model Mathematics Education (ModelME)”, “Network for In Vivo Research (NIER),  “Fraction Activities and Assessment for Conceptual Teaching”, “At Home Learning Initiative”, “Professional Learning Online Modules: Math for Young Children”, “Fostering Learning, Identity, and Participation in STEM Education (FLIP-STEM)”, and “Catalyzing Rural Inclusion in Data Science:  FLIP-STEM”. She currently works with school districts, principals, teachers, and their students as partners to better design asset-based learning tools for number, rational number, and multiplicative reasoning.

• Teacher Professional Development and Collaboration to Integrate CyberSecurity in Mathematics and Science Elementary Curriculum (CIMS):  Cybersecurity is becoming an increased concern among young technology users. However, elementary school teachers often have limited preparation to teach students about cybersecurity. Additional challenges include teachers’ limited time and motivation to effectively incorporate cybersecurity topics into STEM lessons, limiting teachers’ ability to enhance students’ knowledge and confidence and spark students’ interest and involvement in cybersecurity. This project is designed to iteratively develop, refine, and test an innovative professional development program that supports teachers to infuse cybersecurity into 4th-5th grade mathematics and science instruction. The project will synergistically merge cybersecurity with mathematics and science content in authentic, real-world contexts to teach topics such as cyberbullying, digital security, encryption/decryption, digital privacy, and digital footprint. This project seeks to enhance cybersecurity knowledge for elementary students across urban, suburban, and rural districts in North Carolina which can be extended to and tested in other states. The project will leverage interdisciplinary curriculum design to transform traditional approaches to mathematics, science, and cybersecurity instruction while providing research experiences for graduate and undergraduate students in mathematics and science education and educational technology.
• Fostering Learning, Identity, and Participation in STEM Education (FLIP-STEM): The Fostering Learning, Identity, and Participation within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (FLIP-STEM) Hub aims to help support racially, linguistically, and/or neuro diverse middle school students in STEM education. By engaging with data science, students will learn how to identify and build datasets to analyze, interpret, and make inferences about. This process empowers students to uncover patterns connected to their own experiences as they explore personally, locally, and culturally relevant questions. The hub’s ultimate goal is to support students to connect the questions to innovative technologies that students will ultimately design and develop.
  • Catalyzing Rural Inclusion in Data Science: FLIP-STEM (NC State University Foundation):  This two-year project creates place-based, data science camps grounded in design justice in rural counties in NC in partnership with the NC-MSEN Pre-College Program and the NC State Data Science Academy. Through these activities, our project goals harness Design Justice principles to empower students and engage rural communities, building essential data literacy and problem-solving skills. This approach cultivates meaningful partnerships and transformative educational experiences, expanding equitable STEM opportunities in rural North Carolina.
• Model Mathematics Education (ModelME): This four-year project funded though the ITEST competition from the National Science Foundation (NSF) develops a game based,  integrated curriculum for students with learning disabilities and difficulties in fourth through sixth grade, with the goal of increasing understanding of and engagement in fraction concepts. The game, piloted with 140 students in North Carolina and Florida, allows students to virtually step into one of five different STEM or information and communication technology (ICT) career roles. As they play, students encounter opportunities to solve universally-designed fraction problems embedded in real-world occupations, such as photogrammetrist or computer programmer. The system contains executive function scaffolds and cognitive tutoring to support students’ unique abilities as they play.  Find the game and curriculum here!
• Conference: Conversations Across Boundaries- Bringing PreK-2 Mathematics Experts Together:  Leaders in mathematics and elementary education are organizing and hosting a conference that brings together researchers from mathematics education, cognitive science, and special education. The work is grounded in a common goal via constructive conversations and is purposefully framed to bring forth areas of agreement and disagreement when it comes to early mathematics teaching and learning. Organized over three face-to-face meetings with follow-up virtual meetings, the conference is designed to generate a set of teaching and learning principles as well as a collaborative research agenda among the fields, reflecting existing agreements regarding early mathematics and uncovering areas of disagreement where further exchange and generation of knowledge is needed.  The conference will foster opportunities for new insights and collaborations across fields, and new avenues for research and practice.
• Network for In Vivo Research (NIER): Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure Incubator:  Hunt (NC State PI) and Rutherford (University of Delaware PI) are working with Gooru Navigator (PI), a non-profit organization that operates as a “GPS for Learning”, to develop tools and dashboards to give vetted researchers the ability to validate and scale the impact of their work with millions of learners. Our work will offer three key capabilities. First, researchers can configure their innovations (content, tools, or algorithms) to operate in Gooru Navigator. Second, researchers will be able to identify and obtain consent for the use of anonymized data from existing Navigator users or their own cohorts on Gooru Navigator. They can then access data schema and longitudinal datasets from these cohorts to efficiently validate their research. Third, the NIER portal will allow researchers to request that their validated innovations be integrated into Gooru Navigator’s technology for scaled impact, to share their research with the full community.

Past Projects:

• Fraction Activities and Assessment for Conceptual Teaching (FAACT): This five-year CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) documented learning trajectories in fractional reasoning for students with learning disabilities. It also developed and tested a curriculum to be utilized in intervention settings to bolster concepts of fractions in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade.  Find the free curriculum here!
• At-Home Learning Initiative: The At-Home Learning Initiative helped promote remote learning access across the state, specifically for students who lack access to a stable internet connection. With funds from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) through the CARES Act, the Friday Institute facilitated the creation and implementation of 192 literacy and math lessons for PreK-5 students as part of the remote education initiative. 144 of those lessons for PreK-3 aired on PBS North Carolina (PBS NC). Reaching over 30 million households statewide on free public television, the program addressed opportunity gaps due to access to quality early learning instruction. All 192 recorded lessons are available on YouTube for free with accompanying lesson plans and extension activities accessible on GoOpenNC.
• Professional Learning Online Modules (PLOM): This two-year project was funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) and facilitated the development and study of two new professional online learning modules, including “Teaching Math to Young Children”, which infused evidence-based principles and instructional materials in an online  professional learning experience for teachers and parents.

Websites

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Math Intervention with Jessica Hunt

jessicahuntphd.com

Programs

• Elementary Education in Mathematics and Science
• Special Education
• Mathematics and Statistics Education

Courses Taught

• ECI 709   Curriculum Histories & Equity in Elementary Mathematics and Science Education
• ECI 682   Specific Numeracy Techniques for Students with Mild Disabilities
• ECI 585   Education of Children with Exceptionalities
• EMS 770 Foundations of Mathematics Education