Saba Gerami

I am a student and educator of mathematics. I am interested in better understanding the complexity of mathematics instruction in undergraduate classrooms, specifically within inquiry-oriented settings. Before pursuing my doctoral studies at the University of Michigan, I taught a variety of mathematics courses for four years at Cal Poly and Alan Hancock Community College. I am now an assistant professor of mathematics at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where I continue to learn and grow with my students.

Working with undergraduate and graduate students on research projects, mentoring them, and including them in the process of academic publication is one of the greatest joys of being a faculty member. If you're interested in learning more about my work or collaborating on a research project, feel free to contact me or stop by my office. I'm located in Building 25, Room 302.

Non-academically, I enjoy cooking and tasting new foods, drinking dark beer, traveling and finding friends around the world, learning about mental health, reading graphic novels, and spending time with my loving partner and our goodest dog, Hagrid.

• Math 112: The Nature of Modern Math
• Math 119: Trigonometry
• Math 141: Calculus I
• Math 142: Calculus II
• Math 143: Calculus III
• Math 221: Calculus for Business and Economics
• Math 244: Linear Analysis (combination of Linear Algebra and Differential Equations)

Refereed Conference Proceedings

Gerami, S., Khiu, E., Mesa, V., Judson, T. (2024). Conceptions of spans in linear algebra: From textbook examples to student responses. Educational Studies in Mathematics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-024-10306-8

Gerami, S., Mesa, V., Chamberlain, L. & Quiroz, C. (2023). Role of textbook for supporting instruction with inquiry: Case of Active Calculus. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2023.2197904

Liakos, Y., Gerami, S., Mesa, V., Judson, T., & Ma, Y. (2021). How an inquiry-oriented textbook shaped a calculus instructor’s planning. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology. 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2021.1961171

Mesa, V., Ma, Y., Quiroz, C., Gerami, S., Liakos, Y., Judson, T., & Chamberlain, L. (2021). University instructors’ use of questioning devices in mathematics textbooks: An instrumental approach. ZDM–Mathematics Education, 53(6), 1299-1311.

Gerami, S., Leckrone, L., & Mesa, V. (2020). Exploring instructor questions in community college algebra classrooms and its connections to instructor knowledge and student outcomes. MathAMATYC Educator, 11(3), 34-39.

Lim, D., Kimani, P., Duranczyk, I., Watkins, L., Gerami, S., Breit-Goodwin, M., & Cawley, A. (2020). Connecting across representations in community college algebra: lessons from the classroom. MathAMATYC Educator, 12(1), 12-20.

Edited Book Chapters

Gerami, S., (Under Review). Social frames in calculus instruction: Exploring the role of content when introducing derivatives through inquiry. In New Trends in Teaching and Learning of Calculus. Springer.

Mali, A., Gerami, S., Ullah, A., & Mesa, V. (2019). Teacher questioning in problem solving in community college algebra classrooms. In P. Felmer, P. Liljedahl, & B. Koichu (Eds.), Problem Solving in Patagonia (pp. 317-335). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

Refereed Conference Proceedings

Gerami, S. (2023). Framing instructional tasks for interaction with content: Introducing derivatives graphically with inquiry. In Lamberg, T., & Moss, D. (Eds.), Proceedings of the forty-fifth annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 2, pp. 484–494). University of Nevada, Reno.

Gerami, S., Lim, S. L., & Mesa, V. (2023). Undergraduate students’ use of interactive mathematics textbooks: A study of user’s action paths. In P. Drijvers, C. Csapodi, H. Palmér, K. Gosztonyi, & E. Kónya (Eds.), Proceedings of the Thirteenth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME13) (pp. 4127–4134). Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics and ERME.

Mesa, V., Khiu, E., Gerami, S., & Judson, T. (2023). Conceptions of spanning sets and linear independence emerging from examples and student responses to reading questions in an interactive linear algebra textbook. In P. Drijvers, C. Csapodi, H. Palmér, K. Gosztonyi, & E. Kónya (Eds.), Proceedings of the Thirteenth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME13) (pp. 4177–4184). Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics and ERME.

Gerami, S. (2023).Calculus I instructors’ use of representations in instructional tasks: Introducing derivatives with inquiry. In Cook, S., Katz, B. & Moore-Russo D. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 25^th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 1185-1191). Omaha, NE.

Quiroz, C., Gerami, S., & Mesa, M. (2022). Student utilization schemes of questioning devices in undergraduate mathematics dynamic textbooks. In J. Hodgen, E. Geraniou, G. Bolondi, & F. Ferretti (Eds.), Proceedings of the Twelfth Congress of European Research in Mathematics Education (CERME12). (pp. 4030-4037). ERME / Free University of Bozen-Bolzano.

Gerami, S., Hu, Q. D., & Mesa, V. (2022). Student challenges in abstract algebra: How do instructors react and respond? In Fernández, C., Llinares, S., Gutiérrez, A., & Planas, N. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 45th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 4, p. 213). Alicante, Spain: PME.

Gerami, S. (2022). Decisions, decisions: Mathematics instructors’ decision-making about content and pedagogy when teaching with IBL. In Karunakaran, S. S., & Higgins, A. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 24th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 982-987). Boston, MA.

Gerami, S., Mesa, V., & Liakos, Y. (2021). Using an inquiry-oriented calculus textbook to promote inquiry: A case in university calculus. In Inprasitha, M., Changsri, N., & Boonsena, N. (Eds), Proceedings of the 44th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol.2, pp. 297-304). Khon Kaen, Thailand: PME.

Gerami, S., & Mesa, V. (2021). Teaching and learning with dynamic textbooks: Studying student uses at scale. In Wang, J. (Ed), Proceedings of the 14^th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME-14). Shanghai, China. https://doi.org/10.1142/13700-vol1

Gerami, S. (2021). Examining instructor decision-making using two frameworks in the context of inquiry-based learning. In Karunakaran, S. S.& Higgins, A. (Eds.), 2021 Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education Reports (pp. 392-400).

Gerami, S., & Mesa, V. (2020). Investigating instructors’ perceptions of IBL: A systemic functional linguistic approach. In Karunakaran, S. S., Reed, Z., & Higgins, A. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 1135-1140). Boston, MA.

Mesa, V., Gerami, S., & Liakos, Y. (2020). Exploring the relationship between textbook format and student outcomes in undergraduate mathematics courses. In Karunakaran, S. S., Reed, Z., & Higgins, A. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 23rd Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 317-335). Boston, MA.