Grasping the Rationality of Instructional Practice

Who Are We?

GRIP is a research group within the University of Michigan Marsal Family School of Education.  Founded in 2001 by Pat Herbst, and initially dedicated to the study of geometry, reasoning, and instructional practices, the GRIP lab has been the training grounds for several doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows in mathematics education.  The research at the GRIP lab over the last 19 years has maintained a focus on understanding the complexities of mathematics teaching, including the decisions teachers make that affect how mathematics is transacted in teaching and the rationality that justifies such decisions. From its initial focus on high school geometry instruction, the GRIP has also developed instruments and used them in the study of high school algebra and undergraduate mathematics instruction including geometry courses for teachers. In service of that work, the lab has developed and used numerous multimedia tools, including online storyboarding and annotation tools, useful for conducting innovative research which relies on engaging participants with representations of instructional practice.  These tools have proven useful not only for conducting research but also to support a wide variety of online teaching—including its widespread use for the support of online practice-based teacher learning. In tune with this expanded focus of research, the GRIP acronym now spells out as “Grasping the Rationality of Instructional Practice.” 

More About GRIP


Recent News

Some of the recent news relating to the GRIP Lab and its team


Meet The Team

Some team members and partners at a Wasem Fruit Farm in October 2019. (left to right: Liza, Nic, Inah, Mollee, Mike, Ben!, Pat, Saba, Amanda, Cruz, Chris)

To learn more about the GRIP team, click here.



Featured Publications

TitleAuthor(s)CitationDate
Subject Matter Knowledge of Geometry Needed in Tasks of Teaching: Relationship to Prior Geometry Teaching ExperienceKo I, & Herbst P Ko, I., & Herbst, P. (2020). Subject Matter Knowledge of Geometry Needed in Tasks of Teaching: Relationship to Prior Geometry Teaching Experience, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 51(5), 600-630.2020
Technology-Mediated Mathematics Teacher Development: Research on Digital Pedagogies of PracticeHerbst P, Chazan D, Chieu V M, Milewski A, Kosko K, Aaron W,Herbst, P., Chazan, D., Chieu, V. M., Milewski, A., Kosko, K., and Aaron, W. (2016). Technology-Mediated Mathematics Teacher Development: Research on Digital Pedagogies of Practice. In M. Niess, K. Hollebrands, & S. Driskell (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Transforming Mathematics Teacher Education in the Digital Age (pp. 78-106). Hershey, PA: IGI Global.2016
Research on the Teaching of Mathematics: A Call to Theorize the Role of Society and Schooling in MathematicsChazan D, Herbst P, Clark L,Chazan, D., Herbst, P., and Clark, L. (2016). Research on the Teaching of Mathematics: A Call to Theorize the Role of Society and Schooling in Mathematics. In D. Gitomer and C. Bell (Eds.), Handbook of research on teaching (5th ed., pp. 1039-1097). Washington, DC: AERA. 2016
The Role of Theory Development in Increasing the Subject Specificity of Research on Mathematics TeachingHerbst P, Chazan D,Herbst, P. and Chazan, D. (2017). The role of theory development in increasing the subject specificity of research on mathematics teaching. In J. Cai (Ed.), Compendium for Research in Mathematics Education (pp. 102-127). Reston, VA: NCTM.2017
The Learning and Teaching of Secondary School Geometry: A Modeling PerspectiveHerbst P, Fujita T, Halverscheid S, Weiss M,Herbst, P., Fujita, T., Halverscheid, S., and Weiss, M. (2017). The learning and teaching of secondary school geometry: A modeling perspective. New York: Routledge.2017

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