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Jon R. Star

Jon Star

Faculty Info

Professor of Education

Degrees

Ph.D., University of Michigan, (2001)

Vitae/CV

jon-star-79295.pdf

Areas of Expertise

Jon Star

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Email

jon_star@gse.harvard.edu

Office

Gutman 442

Office Hours

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Faculty Coordinator

Arielle Cline

Jon Star is an educational psychologist who studies children's learning of mathematics in middle and high school, particularly algebra. Star's current research explores the development of flexibility in mathematical problem solving, with flexibility defined as knowledge of multiple strategies for solving mathematics problems and the ability to adaptively choose among known strategies on a particular problem. Star also investigates instructional and curricular interventions that may promote the development of mathematical understanding. In addition, Star is interested in the preservice preparation of middle and secondary mathematics teachers. In addition to his teaching and research responsibilities at Harvard, Star also teaches mathematics at a local middle school.

  • The following are selected recent journal articles, please see my CV for more of my work.
  • Yang, Q., Star, J.R., Harris, P., & Rowe, M. (in press). Chinese parents' support of preschoolers'mathematical development. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.
  • Star, J.R. (in press). Revisiting the origin of, and reflections on the future of, pedagogical content knowledge. Asian Journal for Mathematics Education.
  • Durkin, K., Rittle-Johnson, B., Star, J. R., & Loehr, A. (2023). Comparing and discussing multiple strategies: An approach to improving algebra instruction. The Journal of Experimental Education, 91(1), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220973.2021.1903377
  • Jiang, R., Star, J.R., Hastö, P., Li, L., Liu, R., Tuomela, D., Joglar, N., Palkki, R., Abánades, M., & Pejlare, J. (2023). Which one is the “best”: A cross-national comparative study of students’strategy evaluation in equation solving. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 21, 1127-1151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-022-10282-6
  • Wang, H., & Star, J.R. (2023). Investigating algorithm-oriented flexibility and structure-informed flexibility in mathematics learning. Asian Journal for Mathematics Education, 2(1), 16-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/27527263231163593
  • Star, J.R., Tuomela, D., Joglar, N., Hastö, P., Palkki, Abánades, M., Pejlare, J., Jiang, R., Li, L., & Liu, R.(2022). Exploring students’ procedural flexibility in three countries. International Journal of STEM Education, 9(4). https://rdcu.be/cEJh0
  • Garcia Coppersmith, J., & Star, J.R. (2022). A complicated relationship: Examining the relationship between flexible strategy use and accuracy. Journal of Numerical Cognition, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.5964/jnc.7601
  • Li, Y., Xiao, Y., Wang, K., Zhang, N., Pang, Y., Wang, R., Qi, C., Yuan, Z., Xu, J., Nite, S., & Star, J.R.(2022). A systematic review of high impact empirical studies in STEM education. International Journal of STEM Education, 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-022-00389-1
  • Jiang, R., Liu, R., Star, J.R., Zhen, R., Wang, J., Hong, W., Jiang, S., Sun, Y., & Fu, X. (2021). How mathematics anxiety affects students’ inflexible perseverance in mathematics problem solving:Examining the mediating role of cognitive reflection. British Journal of Educational Psychology,91(1), 237-260. https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12364
  • Star, J. R. (2021). In pursuit of a replication culture in mathematics education. Implementation and Replication Studies in Mathematics Education, 1, 53-76. doi: 10.1163/26670127-01010003.
  • Joglar, N., Ferrando, I., Abánades, M. Ángel, Arteaga, B. P., Barrera, V., Belmonte, J. M., Crespo, R., Fernández, I. A., Fraile, A., Hernández, E., Liñán, M. del M., Macías, J., Muñoz-Catalán, M. C., Pla-Castells, M., Ramírez, M., Segura, C., Tolmos, P., & Star, J. (2021). POEMat.ES: Pauta de observación de la enseñanza de matemáticas en educación secundaria en España. Avances De Investigación En Educación Matemática, (20), 89–103. https://doi.org/10.35763/aiem20.4004
  • Star, J.R., Jeon, S., Comeford, R., Clark, P., Rittle-Johnson, B., & Durkin, K. (2021). Compare and discuss multiple strategies. Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12, 114 (11), 853-859. doi: 10.5951/MTLT.2021.0051
  • Wang, J., Liu, R., Star, J.R., Zhen, R., Liu, Y., & Hong, W. (2021). Do students respond faster to inequalities with a greater than sign or to inequalities with a less than sign: Spatial-numerical association in inequalities. Journal of Cognition and Development, 22(4), 605-618. doi:10.1080/15248372.2021.1916499
  • Verschafel, L., Schukajlow, S., Star, J.R., & Van Dooren, W. (2020). Word problems in mathematics education: a survey. ZDM Mathematics Education. 52, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-020-01130-4
  • Liu, Y., Liu R-D, Star, J., Wang, J, and Tong, H. (2020). The effect of perceptual fluency on overcoming the interference of the More A-More B intuitive rule among primary school students in a perimeter comparison task: The perspective of cognitive load. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 35, 357–380. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-019-00424-w
  • Depaepe, F., Verschaffel, L., & Star, J.R. (2020). Expertise in developing students’ expertise in mathematics: Bridging teachers’ professional knowledge and instructional quality. ZDM Mathematics Education, 52, 179–192. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-020-01148-8
  • Loehr, A., Rittle-Johnson, B., Durkin, K., & Star, J.R. (2020). Does calling it ‘Morgan’s Way’ reduce student learning? Evaluating the effect of person-presentation during comparison and discussion of worked examples in mathematics classrooms. Applied Cognition Psychology, 34, 825-836. https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/acp.3670
  • Rittle-Johnson, B., Star, J. R., & Durkin, K. (2020). How can cognitive science research help improve education? The case of comparing multiple strategies to improve mathematics learning and teaching. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(6), 599-609. doi.org/10.1177/0963721420969365.

  • Collaborative Research: Investigating Gender Differences in Digital Learning Games with Educational Data Mining (2022-2025)
    National Science Foundation

    Professor Star will serve as the principal investigator on this project. He will supervise all aspects of the proposed work, in collaboration with the PI at Carnegie Mellon University. In particular, he will vet the mathematics curriculum materials and content, suggest appropriate pedagogy to be incorporated into the mathematics games, and design new middle school mathematics material. Jon will also provide input to the experimental design and help write research papers on the results of studies.

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