Name, position, affiliation information

Cacey Wells, Assistant Professor

Department of Curriculum & Instruction

Reich College of Education

Appalachian State University

Current Academic Responsibilities

Teaching: I primarily teach undergraduate mathematics methods courses for elementary school teachers. I also supervise teacher candidates in the field and teach other courses in our department for both undergraduates and graduate students.

Scholarship: The focus of my research revolves around authenticity in mathematics. This includes exploring intersections between mathematics and issues of social injustice, understanding students’ experiences with mathematics, seeing how classroom environments impact students and teachers, and integrating recreational mathematics into math curricula.

Service: I serve on various committees in my department, college, and university. I am privileged to work with local school districts and serve as a board member for a local school. In the summers I work with in-service teachers across North Carolina in professional development workshops.

Recent accomplishments

Teaching: I recently received the Reich College of Education Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching in 2021 and was nominated for our college’s Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award in 2022.

Scholarship: While not an accomplishment necessarily recognized by my college, I have been fortunate to have fourteen peer-reviewed publications since I started my career in academia in 2019. These include research articles, academic essays, and practitioner pieces.

Service: I was nominated for an award for my collaboration in creating a new lab school for my university, The Appalachian State University Academy at Elkin.

Service to SSMA and other professional organizations

I have had the pleasure of attending SSMA’s annual convention since 2017 as a graduate student at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. Stacy Reeder was my doctoral advisor and the president of SSMA when she encouraged me to get involved and to present my work from my doctoral research. Since 2017, I have attended and presented at each annual convention and consider SSMA my professional home. In 2019, I began serving on the Nominations and Elections Committee. I have also served as a reviewer conference proposals.

In terms of my service to other professional organizations, I serve as an editorial board member for two journals: International Journal for Mathematics Teaching and Learning and CITE-MATH Journal. I am also a reviewer for several journals: Investigations in Mathematics Learning, International Journal of Mathematics Teaching and Learning, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and The Centroid Journal.

Your vision for SSMA

More than anything, I see SSMA as a professional family and would hope to maintain the level of comradery at our annual conventions that has made it so special. SSMA’s annual conventions have provided a safe, yet kindly critical place for me to present my work as both a graduate student and now as a junior faculty member. I currently work at a regional institution that emphasizes teaching more than it does research (which is part of why I love where I work!), so having an outlet to present both my research and interesting teaching ideas is something that I value and would like to continue to promote within the organization. As I continue to become further involved in SSMA, I have noticed that membership is not very high in the Carolinas as it is in other parts of the US. As a board member, I would continue to advocate for colleagues at my institution and for those in my region to get involved with our fantastic organization.