Frederick Peck

I am an assistant professor of mathematics education in the department of mathematical sciences at the University of Montana. I teach undergraduate courses for preservice and inservice teachers and graduate students in mathematics education. Prior to getting my PhD, I taught high school math in Colorado.

My research explores the educational implications of treating mathematics as a human activity. I take the perspective that all human activity is inexorably bound with culture: activity is "mediated" by cultural artifacts, and cultural artifacts are produced through human activity. I therefore take a cultural perspective on learning, studying the mutually constitutive nature of mathematical artifacts—including models, tools, strategies, representations, algorithms, and notation systems—and mathematical activity. I explore the ways in which artifacts are reinvented and made-meaningful in activity, and the ways in which these artifacts help to structure future activity.