UNC School of Education

Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education

T 919.962.6608
F 919.962.1533
steintho@email.unc.edu

201A Peabody Hall
CB 3500

A former mathematics classroom teacher in her native country of Iceland, assistant professor Olof Bjorg Steinthorsdottir teaches mathematics education courses in the Elementary Education and Culture, Curriculum and Change programs. Her scholarly interests include the teaching and learning of mathematics among students in pre-kindergarten through middle school, specifically students’ understanding of mathematics and how teachers can use that understanding to make instructional decisions.

Steinthorsdottir also serves on the planning committee for the First School Initiative of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute, a proposed school for three-year-olds through third graders. Her work addresses the curriculum and instruction to be implemented in the First School and ways to incorporate continual professional development into the format.

Steinthorsdottir is active in the mathematics education profession locally, nationally and internationally. In collaboration with educators in the North Carolina Partnership in Mathematics and Science (NCPIMS), she developed and implemented professional development materials for elementary teachers that focus on the pedagogical and content perspectives of algebraic reasoning. She also serves as the U.S. national coordinator of the International Organization of Women in Mathematics Education (IOWME), an affiliate of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI).

• Ph.D. 2003 - University of Wisconsin in Madison
• M.S. 1997 - University of Wisconsin in Madison
• B.Ed. 1986 - Iceland University of Education

• Student's Understanding of Mathematical Concepts
• Gender and Ethnicity in Relation to Understanding Mathematics
• Research Overview

• Mathematics Education

• Dissertation scholarship, The Icelandic Centre for Research
• Thor Thors scholarship
• NATO fellowship
• Barnavinafélagið Sumargjöf Scholarship (Icelandic childrens’ program)
• Fullbright scholarship

• 2004-2007, University of North Carolina Research Council Grant, UNC-CH
• 2002-2005, Principal Investigator, Children's Understanding of Numbers in PreK-K, Ministry of Education, Iceland

• International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME)
• Inernational Organization of Women in Mathematics Education (IOWME)
• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
• American Educational Research Association (AERA)

Steinthorsdottir, O. B., & Sriraman, B. (2007). Iceland and rural/urban girls - PISA 2003 examined from and emancipatory viewpoint. In B. Sriraman (Ed.) International Perspectives on Social Justice in Mathematics Education. The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast, Monograph 1, University of Montana Press, pp. 171-180.

Steinthorsdottir, O. B. (2007). (Associate Editor), International Perspectives on Social Justice in Mathematics Education. The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast, Monograph 1: University of Montana Press, 193 pages

Sriraman, B., & Steinthorsdottir, O. B. (2007). Excellence and Equity- Components of a Hegelian dialectic. To appear in 2007 in the Mediterranean Journal for Research in Mathematics Education.

Sriraman, B., & Steinthorsdottir, O. B.. (In press). Research into Practice: Implications of research on mathematics gifted education for the secondary curriculum. In C. Callahan & J. Plucker (Eds.), What the Research Says: Encyclopedia on Research in Gifted Education.

Sriraman, B., & Steinthorsdottir, O. B. (In press). Critical Notice: Emancipatory and Social Justice Perspectives in Mathematics Education. Interchange: A Quarterly Review of Education.

Steinthorsdottir, O B. & Sriraman, B. (Under review). Icelandic 5th grade girls developmental trajectories in proportional reasoning. Mathematical Thinking and Learning.

Steinthorsdottir, O. B., & Sriraman, B.  (Under review). Gender and Strategy Use in Proportional Situations: An Icelandic Study. Nordisk Matematikk Didaktikk (Nordic Studies in Mathematics Education).

Steinthorsdottir, K. & Steinthordottir, O. B. (Under review). Erum við að koma í talnaskilning”!—Stærðfræðikennsla byggð á skilningi barna [“Are we not going to do number sense”!: Cognitivily Guided Instruction]. Uppeldi og Menntun

Steinthorsdottir, O. B. (2006). Proportional reasoning: Variables influencing the problems difficulty level and one’s use of problem solving strategies In (Eds.), Proceedings of the 30th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, pp. 225-232. Prague, Czech Republic.

Steinthorsdottir, O. B. (2005). Girls Journey Toward Proportional Reasoning. In H. L. Chick & J. L. Vincent (Eds.), Proceedings of the 29th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, pp. 4-225—4-232. Melbourne, Australia: Department of Science and Mathematics Education University of Melbourne. (Refereed).

Steinthorsdottir, O. B. (2006, November). The role of the mathematics teacher today. Invited speaker at the annual business meeting of the Icelandic Association of Teachers of Mathematics.  Reykjavik, Iceland

Steinthorsdottir, O. B. & Steinthorsdottir, K. (2006, October). Stærðfærði. Sköpun og gleði (Mathematics: Creation and joy). Presented at the annual conference of the Icelandic University of Education Research Center, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Steinthorsdottir, O. B. (2006, September). Mathematics: A tool for argumentation. Presentation at the annual conference of the European Early Childhood Educational Research Association (EECERA), Reykjavik, Iceland.

Steinthorsdottir, O. B. (2005, October). Addressing Algebra in Elementary Grades Presentation at the annual meeting of the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Greensboro, NC

Steinthorsdottir, O. B. & McGlone C. (2005, October). Ethnocultures in Mathematics. Working session at the World View annual symposium, Chapel Hill, NC

Steinthorsdottir, O. B. & Gunnarsdottir, G. H. (2005, May). Structure of the Professional Development in Iceland. Presentation at the fifteenth ICMI Study The Professional Education and Development of Teachers of Mathematics, in Agua Lindoea, Brazil.

Steinthorsdottir, O. B. (2005, April). Informing Our Work with International Perspectives on Gender and Mathematics. Invited panelist on Perspectives to Inform and Enrich Scholarship on Gender and Mathematics. Paper resented at the annual meeting of the National Council of Mathematics Teachers, Anaheim, CA.

Steinthorsdottir, O. B. (2005, February). Teaching Mathematics: Differentiation in Mathematics Instruction. Keynote speaker at the “School in the New Century” conference in Reykjavik, Iceland.