Rachael Welder headshot

Rachael Welder

Teaching Assistant Professor She/her/hers

Summary

Dr. Rachael M. Welder is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Nevada, Reno. She earned her Ph.D. in Mathematics with an emphasis in Mathematics Education from Montana State University in 2007. Prior to joining the University, she held mathematics education faculty positions at Hunter College, The City University of New York (2007-2015), Western Washington University (2015-2019), and Texas A&M University (2019-2022).

Dr. Welder has over 20 years of experience teaching a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate mathematics courses. She specializes in mathematics content courses for prospective elementary and middle grades (K-8) teachers of mathematics.

In her free time, she enjoys meditating, playing ukulele, visiting her family in ND, trying out new vegan recipes, and spending time with her husband and their seven cats.

Research interests

Dr. Welder’s research focuses on informing and supporting the preparation and professional development of K-8 teachers and the mathematics teacher educators who work with them. She is particularly interested in the ways in which mathematics teacher educators can facilitate prospective K-8 teachers’ development of mathematical knowledge for teaching while simultaneously supporting their social-emotional needs. In 2020, she served as a guest editor producing a two-volume Special Issue of The Mathematics Enthusiast on "Supporting Mathematics Teacher Educators' Knowledge and Practices for Teaching Content to Prospective (Grade K-8) Teachers." She is currently involved in multiple, cross-institutional efforts to (a) examine the design and implementation of tasks in mathematics courses for K-8 teachers, (b) employ mindfulness-based interventions for mitigating the adverse effects of stress and anxiety on teachers and learners, and (c) conceptualize the knowledge needed by mathematics teacher educators for this work.

Courses taught

  • MATH 122 (Number Concepts for Elementary School Teachers)
  • MATH 123 (Statistical and Geometrical Concepts for Elementary School Teachers)
  • MATH 126 (Pre-Calculus I)
  • MATH 127 (Pre-Calculus I)

Education

  • Ph.D. Mathematics (Mathematics Education), Montana State University, 2007
  • M.S. Mathematics, University of North Dakota, 2003
  • B.S. Mathematics/Secondary Mathematics Teaching, University of Mary, 2001

Selected publications

  • Olanoff, D., Bajwa, N. P., Tobias, J. M., & Welder, R. M. (2023). Reflecting on and evaluating tasks: What happens when learning goals are not met? In Lamberg, T., & Moss, D. (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. 546-550). Reno, NV: University of Nevada, Reno. Retrieve (Open Access) from PME Proceedings webpage.
  • Welder, R. M., Castro Superfine, A., Prasad, P. V., & Olanoff, D. (2022). Conceptualizing mathematics teacher educator knowledge: Comparing and contrasting existing frameworks. In Lischka, A. E., Dyer, E. B., Jones, R. S., Lovett, J. N.., Strayer, J., & Drown, S. (Eds.), Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 737-747). Nashville, TN: Middle Tennessee State University. Retrieve (Open Access) from PME Proceedings webpage.
  • Welder, R. M., Burton, M., & Eisenreich, H. (2022). Using mindfulness to support the well-being of preservice K-8 teachers during a pandemic. In Lischka, A. E., Dyer, E. B., Jones, R. S., Lovett, J. N.., Strayer, J., & Drown, S. (Eds.), Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 1321-1326). Nashville, TN: Middle Tennessee State University. Retrieve (Open Access) from PME Proceedings webpage.
  • Kwok, M., Welder, R. M., Moore, J., & Williams, A. M. (2022). Beyond keywords: Applying systemic functional linguistics to unpack the language of additive word problems. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. Advance online publication. 
  • Welder, R. M., Kwok, M., Williams, A. M., & Moore, J. (2022). Supporting preservice K-8 teachers’ conceptions of addition using a linguistics approach to analyzing word problems. In S. Bateiha, & G. Cobbs. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 49th Annual Conference of the Research Council on Mathematics Learning (pp. 77-85). Grapevine, TX.
  • Welder, R. M., Williams, A. M., Kwok. M., & Moore, J. (2021). Applying systemic functional linguistics to unpack the language of additive word problems. In D. Olanoff, K. Johnson, & S. Spitzer (Eds.), Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 1011-1015). Philadelphia, PA.
  • Foran, A., Welder, R. M., & Williams, A. M. (2021). Task development to address error patterns in prospective elementary teachers’ posing of multi-step word problems. In D. Olanoff, K. Johnson, & S. Spitzer (Eds.), Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 918-927). Philadelphia, PA.
  • Castro Superfine, A., Prasad, P. V., Welder, R. M., Olanoff, D., & Eubanks-Turner, C. (2020). Exploring mathematical knowledge for teaching teachers: Supporting prospective teachers’ relearning of mathematics. In A. Appova, R. M. Welder, and Z. Feldman, (Eds.), Supporting Mathematics Teacher Educators’ Knowledge and Practices for Teaching Content to Prospective (Grades K-8) Teachers. Special Issue: The Mathematics Enthusiast, ISSN 1551-3440, vol. 17, nos. 2 & 3, pp. 367–402. ScholarWorks: University of Montana.
  • Max, B., & Welder, R. M. (2020). Mathematics teacher educators’ addressing the common core standards for mathematical practice in content courses for prospective elementary teachers: A focus on critiquing the reasoning of others. In A. Appova, R. M. Welder, and Z. Feldman, (Eds.), Supporting Mathematics Teacher Educators’ Knowledge and Practices for Teaching Content to Prospective (Grades K-8) Teachers. Special Issue: The Mathematics Enthusiast, ISSN 1551-3440, vol. 17, nos. 2 & 3, pp. 843–881. ScholarWorks: University of Montana.
  • Appova, A., Welder, R. M., & Feldman, Z. (2020). Guest editorial: Special issue on supporting mathematics teacher educators’ knowledge and practices for teaching content to prospective (grades K-8) teachers. In A. Appova, R. M. Welder, and Z. Feldman, (Eds.), Supporting Mathematics Teacher Educators’ Knowledge and Practices for Teaching Content to Prospective (Grades K-8) Teachers. Special Issue: The Mathematics Enthusiast, ISSN 1551-3440, vol. 17, nos. 2 & 3, pp. 337–365. ScholarWorks: University of Montana.
  • Foran, A., & Welder, R. M. (2020). Error patterns in prospective K-8 teachers’ posing of multi-step addition and subtraction word problems. In A. I. Sacristán, J. C. Cortés-Zavala, & P. M. Ruiz-Arias (Eds.), Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 1601-1605). Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico.
  • Max, B., & Welder, R. M. (2019). Engaging prospective elementary teachers in standards for mathematical practice within content courses for teachers. In S. Otten, A. G. Candela, Z. de Araujo, C. Haines, & C. Munter (Eds.), Proceedings of the 41st Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 1141-1145). St. Louis, MO: University of Missouri.
  • Olanoff, D., Welder, R. M., Prasad, P., & Castro Superfine, A. (2018). Fractalization as a metaphor for mathematical knowledge for teaching teachers: Synthesizing the frameworks and exploring the consequences. In T. E. Hodges, G. J. Roy, & A. M. Tyminski (Eds.), Proceedings of the 40th Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 500-503). Greenville, SC: University of South Carolina & Clemson University.
  • Thanheiser, E., Olanoff, D., Hillen, A., Feldman, Z., Tobias, J. M., & Welder, R. M. (2016). Reflective analysis as a tool for task redesign: The case of prospective elementary teachers solving and posing fraction comparison problems. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 19(2-3), 123-148. DOI: 10.1007/s10857-015-9334-7
  • Yow, J., Eli, J., Beisiegel, M., McCloskey, A., & Welder, R. M. (2016). Challenging transitions and crossing borders: Preparing novice mathematics teacher educators to support novice K-12 mathematics teachers. Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, 18(1), 52-69 [last three authors listed alphabetically to indicate equal authorship].
  • Feldman, Z., Thanheiser, E., Welder, R. M., Tobias, J. M., Hillen, A. F., & Olanoff, D. (2016). When is a mathematical task a good task? In L. C. Hart, S. Oesterle, S. S. Auslander, & A. Kajander (Eds.), The Mathematics Education of Elementary Teachers: Issues and Strategies for Content Courses (pp. 9-24). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
  • Olanoff, D., Feldman, Z., Welder, R. M., Tobias, J. M., Thanheiser, E., & Hillen, A. (2016). Greater number of larger pieces: A strategy to promote prospective teachers' fraction number sense development. In M. B. Wood, E. E. Turner, M. Civil, & J. A. Eli (Eds.), Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (pp. 799-805). Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona.

    Professional certifications

    • 2001 Secondary Mathematics Teaching Certification (North Dakota)