Christopher Dennis Nazelli (ac3361)

Mathematics, Center for Excellence and Equity in Mathematics

1091 Faculty/Administration Building

My teaching philosophy has been shaped by the excellent educators who have inspired and mentored me, my own teaching experience with students over a wide range of grade levels, and, most recently, my research within the field of mathematics education. I believe that learning occurs through relationships, and I view my role as a member and facilitator of these relationships. My classroom practices flow from this belief and this view.
Let me first clarify what I mean by “relationships”, as people often assume that I am talking about the relationships that I have with my students. I am, of course, talking about that; but the teacher-student relationship is one of many through which teaching and learning take place. Students interact with me, but they also interact with each other. They engage with mathematics in a way that is, in large part, directed by me; but the way that they view mathematics is shaped by, among other things, their previous experiences and the messages that they’ve received from many other sources regarding their own competency and efficacy. Cohen, Raudenbush, & Ball (2003) refer to this as instruction as interaction; and I use it to help focus my thinking about teaching and learning.
For any of these relationships to form, students need to feel safe . They must feel safe to be themselves; and to do that they must feel valued for who they are. They must feel safe to take intellectual risks; and to do that they must know that their mathematical thinking will be met with reverence and careful consideration. They must feel safe to envision themselves as mathematicians; and to do that they must understand that everyone can succeed at mathematics through hard work and the help of a supportive community.

• Mathematics education
• Teacher preparation and professional learning
• Lesson study

Selected publications

• Nazelli, C., Zopf, D. & Özgün-Koca, S. A. (in press). Deepening preservice teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching through writing and computer-mediated inter-institutional conversations. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education - Mathematics.
• Lewis, J. M., Özgün-Koca, S. A, Nazelli, C., & Hernandez, L. (2024). Using transformative technology to teach central tendency and promote equity. Journal of the Korean Society of Mathematical Education Series D: Research in Mathematical Education. 27(3), 295-315.
• Nazelli, C., Özgün-Koca, S. A., & Zopf, D. (2024). Enhancing preservice teachers' mathematical knowledge through writing: From peer review to inter-institutional conversations. In M. Colonnese, T. Casa, & F. Cardetti (Eds.), Illuminating and advancing the path for mathematical writing research (pp. 62-92). IGI Global.
• Lewis, J. M., Nazelli, C., Özgün-Koca, S. A., French, K., & Hernandez, L. (2023). Professional development for human flourishing. In P. Drijvers, C. Csabodi, H. Palmér,  K. Gosztoniy, & E. Kónya (Eds.), Proceedings of the 13th Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (pp. 3243-3250). Alfréd Rényi Institute of Mathematics, Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Science, and ERME.
• Meagher, M., Nazelli, C., Özgün-Koca, S. A., & Edwards, M. T. (2023). Project CRAFTeD: An adapted lesson study for pre-service mathematics teachers. In T. Lamberg & D. Moss (Eds.), Proceedings of the forty-fifth annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (Vol. 1) (pp. 523-531). Reno, NV: University of Nevada.
• Nazelli, C., & Özgün-Koca, S. A. (2023). Mathematics lesson study for early professional learning with novel partnerships. In S. Dotger, G. Matney, K. Chandler-Olcott, J. Heckathorn, and M. Fox (Eds.), Lesson study with mathematics and science preservice teachers: Finding the form (pp. 192-203). Routledge.
• Nazelli, C., Zopf, D., & Özgün-Koca, S. A. (2022). Engaging elementary pre-service teachers with high leverage mathematical practices. In P. Jenlink (Ed.), Mathematics as the science of patterns: Making the invisible visible through teaching (pp. 185-204). Information Age Publishing.
• Lewis, J. M., & Nazelli, C. (2022). What remains? A longitudinal study of the effects of curated field experiences for preservice mathematics teachers. In J. Hodgen, E. Geraniou, G. Bolondi, & F. Ferretti (Eds.), Proceedings of the 12th Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (p. 3194). Free University of Bozen-Bolazano and ERME.
• Lewis, J. M., Özgün-Koca, S. A., Hernandez, L., Nazelli, C., & French, K. (2022). Does the choice of observation instrument matter? The Mathematics Educator. 30 (2), 33-63.

Selected presentations

• Özgün-Koca, S. A., Nazelli, C., & Zopf, D. (February, 2024). Mathematical Writing to Scaffold Elementary Preservice Teacher Learning. Session presented at the Twenty-eighth Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE). Orlando, Florida.
• Lebiedzik, C., Nazelli, C., Özgün-Koca, S. A., Schultz, S. (January, 2024). The Academy of Teachers' Lesson Study Faculty Learning community: Breaking the Habits of Disengagement. Inaugural Mathematics Teaching and Learning Seminar, Detroit, MI: Wayne State University.
• Lewis, J., Nazelli, C., Özgün-Koca, S. A., French, K., & Hernandez, L. (November, 2023). Lesson Study for Human Flourishing. Session presented at the Annual Conference of the World Association of Lesson Studies (WALS). Zwolle, Netherlands.
• Lewis, J., Nazelli, C., Özgün-Koca, S. A., French, K., & Hernandez, L. (July, 2023). Professional Development for Human Flourishing. Session presented at the Thirteenth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME). Budapest, Hungary.
• Nazelli, C., & Özgün-Koca, S. A. (April, 2022). Lesson Study as Feedback System. Roundtable session presented at Closing the Loop, Wayne State University Office of Teaching and Learning, Academy of Teachers, and SSTEPS Teaching Conference. Detroit, MI.
• Hardamon, K., Nazelli, C., Özgün-Koca, S. A. (April, 2021). Project REALM: High Quality Professional Development to Support and Nurture Lesson Study. Poster presented at the Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Virtual.
• Nazelli, C., Balogh, J., & Chrzan, M. (January, 2020). The WSU Math Corps: Empowering Children through Mentoring and Mathematics. Session presented at the STEM Education and Social Justice Conference. Oahu, HI: University of Hawaii at Manoa.
• Nazelli, C., Özgün-Koca, S. A., & Zopf, D. (February, 2019). Reforming a Mathematics Course for Elementary Teachers via the APEX Cycle. Session presented at the Twenty-third Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE). Orlando, FL.
• Nazelli, C. (June, 2018). Lesson Study: An Introduction. Session presented at the Realizing Equity and Achievement through Learning Mathematics (REALM) Lesson Study Open House. Detroit, MI: Mackenzie Elementary-Middle School.
• Lewis, J. & Nazelli, C. (March, 2017). Lesson Study and Higher Education. Session presented at the Michigan Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (MI-AMTE) Conversations Among Colleagues Conference Pre-Conference Workshop. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University.
• Rubenstein, R., Elliott, R., Ghousseini, H., Shaughnessy, J. M., Nazelli, C., & McLeod, M. (January, 2016). Multiple Models for Practice-Based Teacher Development. Session presented at the Twentieth Annual Conference of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (AMTE). Irving, CA.
• Lewis, J., Özgün-Koca, S. A., Hardamon, K., Hernandez, L., Isaksen, S., McLeod, M., & Nazelli, C. (April, 2015). What a Difference a Difference Makes: Comparing Outcomes on Different Observational Instruments for Teacher Evaluation. Session presented at the Annual Conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). Chicago, IL.

• Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction - Mathematics Education, Wayne State University, 2021
• M.A. in Mathematics, Wayne State University, 1996
• B.A. in Mathematics (Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa), Wayne State University, 1994

• Department of Mathematics Faculty Service Award, 2024
• Office of Teaching and Learning Faculty Travel Grant, 2023
• Inducted, WSU Academy of Teachers, 2021
• Community Telecommunications Network Grant, 2018
• NSF WIDER/SSTEPS Grant Fellow, 2016-2018
• President's Excellence in Teaching Award, 2011
• College of Science Teaching Award, 1999
• Adjunct Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, Department of Mathematics, 1996

• Instructor, Director, Site-Development Consultant, WSU Math Corps 1997 - Present
• Participant, IMPULS Lesson Study Immersion Program, Tokyo Gakugei University, Tokyo, Japan, Summer 2015 
• Lesson study facilitator, Warren Woods Public Schools 2014 - 2018; WSU Project REALM (Realizing Equity and Achievement through Literacy and Mathematics), 2016 - 2020
• Facilitator and participant, WSU Lesson Study Faculty Learning Community, 2019 - 2021 (Supported by NSF WIDER/SSTEPS Grant)
• Facilitator and participant, WSU Academy of Teachers' Lesson Study Faculty Learning Community, 2023 - 2024 (Supported by the Office of the Provost)

• Google Scholar
• ResearchGate