TRAVIS OLSON
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
(702) 895-0471
Travis Olson an Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the Teaching & Learning department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Dr. Olson earned his B.S. in mathematics and political science, and his M.S. in mathematics from Western Illinois University. His Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction under the direction of Dr. Douglas A. Grouws at the University of Missouri focused on examining middle grades mathematics textbooks related to the development of patterning concepts and algebraic thinking. While at the University of Missouri, Dr. Olson was a doctoral research fellow of the Center for the Study of Mathematics Curriculum (CSMC), an NSF-funded Center for Learning and Teaching focusing on mathematics curriculum studies (e.g., design, implementation, policy) within and among the primary institutions of the University of Missouri, Michigan State University, Western Michigan University, and University of Chicago.
Dr. Olson’s current research continues to focus on curriculum analysis studies, particularly with respect to the development of mathematical concepts (at various levels, K-16) and implications on students’ opportunities to learn and teachers’ opportunities to teach particular mathematics concepts. Dr. Olson is also currently working on understanding secondary teacher’s conceptions, root of their understandings, and abilities to model mathematical problems related to fraction concepts, and other key mathematical topics encountered in a secondary teachers’ daily professional life.
