Meet a SLU Researcher: Christa Jackson, Ph.D.
11/01/2021
Christa Jackson, Ph.D., is a professor of educational studies. Dr. Jackson鈥檚 research focuses on teachers鈥� knowledge of equity, particularly when they鈥檙e teaching Black students, so that they鈥檙e meeting the students鈥� needs.
Background
"Well, ever since I was a little girl, I have always wanted to be a teacher," Jackson said. "I had a younger sister and I would teach her math and teach her how to add, multiply, when she's three or four years old. And to this day, math has always been her favorite subject as well, and I kind of attribute that to myself."
Research
"My research focuses primarily target teachers' knowledge of equity, particularly as they're teaching primarily black students, so that they are really meeting the students' needs, and then also making sure that they are building off a student's agency, as well as identity, to engage them in the mathematics," Jackson said.
"So one of the projects that I am currently working on is what I call Newton, where students are using virtual reality to do engineering concepts. They solve different problems, they build different things. They're showing how STEM professionals are actually using what we're talking about in class."
Empowering the Future
"Empowering them to be learners and doers of mathematics and giving them the agency to do so," Jackson said.
"In the School of Education, they have restructured their undergraduate program to really focus on equity and culturally relevant pedagogy. I'm just excited to be here, just trying to express the love and joy of mathematics to everyone that I meet."
Meet the Researcher Video Series
This is part of a weekly series of short videos featuring faculty researchers from across the University sharing the important and cutting-edge research taking place at SLU.
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