Gabriela Locoh-A
Graduate Student
Learning Sciences Research Institute
Contact
Building & Room:
1570 SSB
Address:
1240 W. Harrison St.
Email:
About
Discipline
Math
Entered Program
Fall 2009
Advisor
Hometown
Constanta, Romania
Professional Goals
In the next year I plan to finish my dissertation study, which is designed to explore how pre-service teachers think about assessment. I look forward to continue this research, at a larger scale once I graduate. Ideally I would want to work in a Research University where I can also teach pre-service teachers, hopefully using the findings from my study. Overall, I am interested in improving teacher. As long-term goals I am also interested in doing research that can improve curricula for pre-service teacher programs.
Hobbies & Interests
As far as hobbies, I love to paint, cook, dance salsa, flamenco and Argentinean tango. I love to get together with friends and enjoy different foods (I love to make and eat sushi!). When I can, I travel. I love to learn about other cultures. One of my favorite places, aside from any islands, is Greece – the Meteora region. Next, I would love to go to Brazil, Bolivia and Argentina. I also like to hike and do water sports as often as I can.
Why Learning Sciences?
Some people love math and some (a lot) of people do not! I have always been interested in how people learn math and how some are so enthusiastic about this subject (and why some are not). Specifically, I want to understand how various variables, such as the environment, the people and the school curricula, affect math learning. The Learning Sciences Field prepares me to become a more knowledgeable researcher and allows me to conduct research that helps explore some of these interests. Nonetheless, this field also allows for a broader research perspective on learning, by providing a strong preparation in the Learning Sciences research field and supporting specialization in the research field of a specific discipline (in my case, mathematics).
Why LSRI at UIC?
UIC’s Learning Sciences program is great because of great mentorship opportunities--within and outside the program, a perfectly accessible central location of the campus in Chicago and because it supports students in so many more disciplines than other similar programs!
Education
B.A., Finance
Selected Presentations
I worked for the The Cognitive Psychometric and Instructional Validity of Curriculum Embedded Assessments In Depth Analyses of the Resources Available to Teachers Within Everyday Mathematics for four years and I am now teaching in the Mathematics Department, collaborating with Dr. Castro Superfine and Dr. Martinez. My role starting this Fall is to teach Math 140, a content mathematics course for elementary pre-service teachers. We will cover various mathematical content, from arithmetic basics to algebra. In the previous LSRI Embedded Assessment Project I was involved with conducting, coding and analyzing classroom data from various elementary schools in the Chicago area, participating at conferences and writing about our research.