KINGSTON, R.I. – Sept. 30, 2026 – Irma Stevens, assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Rhode Island, has secured a five-year, $1.1 million CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation.
Stevens will use the funding to research variable literacy—the ability to comprehend and use mathematical symbols—and to develop ways to support students who struggle to use variables meaningfully.
The Dynamic Variables Project seeks to serve URI undergraduate students’ variable literacy needs by developing a new approach to support students’ ability to understand variables used in mathematical problems through contexts that are relevant to today’s STEM careers.
In addition to developing a new learning progression in the mathematics field, this project will create and test teaching and training materials for undergraduate precalculus instructors. It will also give STEM instructors clear guidance on the variable skills their students need for future careers.
“Students should be able to look at equations and put meaning into them. I think that is necessary for them to be global citizens and to have that literacy,” Stevens said. “This might be the last math class they ever see, and they can leave knowing the key relationships represented with different equations. Relationships between quantities that we learn about show up just about everywhere. For example, in the life sciences, there’s exponential growth in bacteria.”
Stevens’ interest in mathematics education began as an undergraduate when she tutored, and became fascinated by how people reason through mathematical problems. Students were not simply correct or incorrect in their approach; they were thinking in unique and valid ways. This prompted a shift from focusing on rules and formulas to focusing on where the student is and what supports are actually relevant for them.
While earning her doctorate from the University of Georgia, she focused on helping students understand what mathematical symbols mean, rather than simply using them as step-by-step tools. In her dissertation, she studied how future high school math teachers used interactive software to connect verbal reasoning with mathematical symbols.
During Stevens’ postdoctoral work in the University of Michigan, she shifted perspective from individual student to classroom-level teacher decision-making. She researched how teachers, unable to give individual tutoring attention to every student, organize observations of student work and contributions to support the whole class.
Now entering her fifth year at the University, Stevens’ research will be broken up into two phases. The first phase will include conducting interviews and focus groups with precalculus students and STEM professionals to better understand what mathematics they actually use and in what contexts. These findings will help identify which supports are helpful for different student profiles, ensuring tasks reflect real-work quantitative relationships.
The second phase will implement the refined tasks across URI precalculus courses. Stevens will gather instructor feedback on implementation challenges and observe whether student thinking shows measurable shifts.
Stevens is the grant’s lead principal investigator. Graduate students, a postdoctoral researcher, undergraduate students, and advisory board members will assist Stevens in executing the project.
This release was written by Paige Monopoli, communications coordinator for the University of Rhode Island College of Arts and Sciences.