Professor of Science Education
Department of Teaching, Learning, and Leadership
Professor Ellice Ann Forman’s current research focuses on teaching and learning in inquiry mathematics and science classrooms. For more than 30 years, she has been interested in the intersection between social interaction, discourse, reasoning and problem solving in the learning of children and adolescents. Her recent research employs a cultural historical theoretical framework and uses methods from sociolinguistics as well as the learning sciences to study instruction in K-12 mathematics and science classrooms. Her studies have been conducted in a variety of schools in many regions of the United States in both urban and suburban communities.
Professor Forman has presented her research at many national and international conferences such as: the American Educational Research Association; the National Association for Research in Science Teaching; and the European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction. Her publications have appeared in leading journals in education such as Cognition and Instruction, the Journal of the Learning Sciences, Learning and Instruction, the International Journal of Educational Research, and Educational Studies in Mathematics. She has taught a wide range of courses to undergraduate and graduate students at both the University of Pittsburgh and Northwestern University. She was appointed a Fellow of the American Educational Research Association in 2015.
Instructional Interests
She teaches graduate-level courses in qualitative research methods and classroom research.
Her courses have included:
- Research Interviewing
- Classroom Discourse
- Identity Development in Educational Settings
- Culture and Cognition
- Learning and Cognition
- Disciplined Inquiry for MAT students
- MAT Research Seminar
- MEd Research Seminar
Scholarly Interests
- Dialogic instruction in mathematics or science classrooms
- Teacher-student positioning and identity formation
- Argumentation in mathematics or science classrooms
- Cultural approaches to mathematics or science education
Featured Publications
- Forman, E.A. (2018). The practice turn in learning theory and in science education. In D. Kritt (Ed.). Constructivist education in an age of accountability (pp. 97-111). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Forman, E.A., Ramirez-Deltoro, V., Brown, L., & Passmore, C. (2017). Discursive strategies that foster an epistemic community for argument in a biology classroom. Learning and Instruction, 48, 32-39.
- Forman, E.A., & Ford, M.J. (2014). Authority and accountability in light of disciplinary practices in science. International Journal of Educational Research, 64, 198-209.
- Ford, M. J., & Forman, E. A. (2006). Redefining disciplinary learning in classroom contexts. In J. Green & A. Luke (Eds.), Review of research in education, 30, 1-32.
- Forman, E., & Ansell, E. (2002). Orchestrating the multiple voices and inscriptions of a mathematics classroom. In A. Sfard, & K. McClain (Guest editors). Perspectives on the role of designed artifacts in mathematics learning. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 11 (2&3), 251-274.
Awards and Honors
- AERA Fellow Appointment 2015.
- Council of Graduate Students in Education, University of Pittsburgh, Faculty Extra Mile Award, Spring 2013.
- Engagement, Partnerships, and Professional Service
- Faculty Mentor for the IES Training Grant (University of California, Berkeley) conference on Research in Cognition and Mathematics Education (RCME), May 2015.
- Senior Reviewer for the International Conference of the Learning Sciences, Summer 2014-present.