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So much is in store for you at Lesley University! Now that you’ve been accepted, RSVP for our exclusive celebration for new undergraduate and Threshold students for either Saturday, March 23 or Saturday, April 27.

Steven Benson

Professor

Steven Benson

Steven's areas of academic focus and expertise include: algebraic number theory, problem solving, and content-based professional development for inservice and preservice teachers. At Lesley, he teaches courses in a variety of topics, such as Mathematics in Context, Abstract Algebra Problem Solving, Multivariable Calculus, and Transition to Abstract Mathematics through Number Theory.

He holds a BS from the University of Texas at Austin as well as an MS and a PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Publications

  • Review of A Festival of Mathematics: A Sourcebook, by Alice Peters and Mark Saul, January 2023 (available at https://www.maa.org/press/maa-reviews/a-festival-of-mathematics-a-source-book).
  • Review of Mathematical Labyrinths: Pathfinding, by Boris Pritsker, December 2021 (available athttps://www.maa.org/press/maa-reviews/mathematical-labyrinths-pathfinding).
  • “Pythagorean Paper Folding,” Mathematics Magazine, February 2021, 94:1, pp. 34-42.
  • “Accessible Algebra: 30 Modules to Promote Algebraic Reasoning, Grades 7-10,” with Anne M. Collins, Stenhouse Publishers, 2017.
  • Contributing author, Lenses on Learning Secondary: Leadership for Mathematics Education in Middle and High Schools, Grant, Cathy M. et al., Corwin Press, 2009.
  • “Problem Solving by Analogy/Problem Solving as Analogy,” The Mathematics Educator, Fall 2007, 17(2), 2-6.
  • Ways to Think About Mathematics: Activities and Investigations for Grade 6-12 Teachers, with Susan Addington, Nina Arshavsky, Al Cuoco, Paul Goldenberg, and Eric Karnowski, Corwin Press, 2004.
  • Contributing author, Mathscape: Seeing and Thinking Mathematically 2nd ed., Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2004.
  • “Exploring Changes in Pre-service Elementary Teachers' Mathematical Beliefs,” with Jennifer E. Szydlik & Stephen D. Szydlik, Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, September 2003, 6 (3), pp. 253-279
  • Contributing author, Windows on Teaching Math: Cases of Middle and Secondary Classrooms, Katherine Merseth, ed., Teachers College Press, 2003.
  • “A modified discovery approach to teaching and learning abstract algebra,” with Brad Findell, in Innovations in Teaching Abstract Algebra, MAA Notes #60, eds. Allen Hibbard & Ellen Maycock, Mathematical Association of America, 2002, pp. 11-17.
  • “MST@UNH:  A mathematics degree for mathematics teachers,” with Karen Graham, Mathematicians and Education Reform Newsletter, Special issue on mathematics immersion experiences in professional development programs, Summer 2001, 13 (3), pp. 3-6.
  • Editor, Problem Calendar section of Mathematics Teacher (NCTM), October 2000 – March 2004.
  • Review of The Streetwise Guide to Calculus, by Colin Adams, Abigail Thompson, and Joel Hass), December 1998 (available at https://www.maa.org/press/maa-reviews).
  • Review of Calculus, by Elliot C. Gootman, December 1998 (available at https://www.maa.org/press/maa-reviews).
  • Contributing author, Minnesota K-12 Mathematics Framework, 1998.
  • “Students ask the darnedest things: a result in elementary group theory,” Mathematics Magazine, June 1997, 70 (3), pp. 207-211.
  • “A new lower bound for corresponding residue systems in normal, totally ramified extensions of number fields,” Illinois Journal of Mathematics, Spring 1996, 40 (1), pp. 1-12.
  • “Euclid’s (Gaussian) algorithm: a lattice approach,” College Mathematics Journal, Mar 1994, 25 (2), pp. 118-124.
  • “Much ado about coset multiplication,” with Matt Richey, PRIMUS, March 1994, IV (1), pp. 9-14.
  • “Aligning assessment with instructional objectives,” with Jeff Ondich, in Mathematical Sciences in Minnesota: A State Assessment, ed. Lynn Steen, 1990, pp. 201-216.
  • “Canonical Invariants for Corresponding Residue Systems in p-adic Fields,” Journal of Number Theory, Nov. 1990, 36 (3), pp. 339-353.

Presentations

  • Presentations at Joint Meetings of American Mathematical Society and Mathematical Association of America: January 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015
  • Session Organizer: Influences of the Calculus Reform Movement on the Teaching of Mathematics (contributed paper session) and Calculus Reform: 25 Years Later (panel), AMS-MAA Joint Meetings, January 2011
  • Moderator for Panel Beyond Grading and Tutoring: New approaches to students helping students, AMS-MAA Joint Meetings, January 2010
  • Panelist, Developing Content-based Masters Programs for Inservice Mathematics Teachers, San Jose CA (Mathfest SIGMAA panel), August 2007
  • Special Session Organizer, Building and Sustaining Communities of Mathematicians and Teachers, AMS-MAA Joint Meetings, January 2007