Research

Our first phase of data collection is complete. See below for preliminary work from this phase as well as our previous pilot study.

Publications

Stephens, A. C., Viegut, A. A., Murray, J. O., Matthews, P. G., & Alibali, M. W. (2025). Relations between fractions knowledge and proportional reasoning. In Zbiek, R. M., Yao, X., McCloskey, A., & Arbaugh, F. (Eds.), Proceedings of the forty-seventh annual meeting of the North American chapter of the international group for the psychology of mathematics education (pp. 1454–1458). Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA.
Viegut, A. A., Stephens, A. C., & Matthews, P. G. (2024). Unpacking the connections between fractions and algebra: The importance of fraction schemes and units coordination. Investigations in Mathematics Learning, 16(3), 180–202.

Presentations

Cheng, X., Viegut, A. A., Stephens, A. C., Westerberg, L., Murray, J., Axness, C., Berg, V., Alibali, M. W., & Matthews, P. G. (2026). Math anxiety and working memory in symbolic and nonsymbolic fraction performance across grades 7–9. [Poster presentation]. Biennial Meeting of the Cognitive Development Society, Montreal, Canada.
Viegut, A. A., Murray, J., Westerberg, L., Alibali, M., Stephens, A., Cheng, X., Berg, V., Bolt, D., & Matthews, P. (2025). An interdisciplinary approach to untangling the fractions-algebra relation. [Paper presentation]. Biennial Meeting of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI) as part of the symposium New Insights on the Specific Links Between Students’ Fraction and Algebra Knowledge, Graz, Austria.
Park, S., Cheng, X., Murray, J., Stephens, A. C., Viegut, A. A., Alibali, M., & Matthews, P. (2025). Developmental differences in fraction knowledge across timed and untimed contexts. [Poster presentation]. Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN.
Viegut, A. A., Stephens, A. C., & Matthews, P. G. (2023, April 13-16). How does fractions knowledge support algebra knowledge?: An interdisciplinary investigation. [Paper presentation]. Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association, Chicago, Illinois.
Viegut, A. A. (2022, June 24). Measuring and supporting proportional reasoning: An interdisciplinary approach. [Doctoral Dissertation, University of Wisconsin–Madison].
Viegut, A. A., Stephens, A. C., & Matthews, P. G. (2022, June 1-3). Why does fractions knowledge support algebra knowledge? Investigating multiple paths. [Poster presentation]. Mathematics Cognition and Learning Society Conference, Antwerp, Belgium.
Viegut, A. A., Stephens, A. C., & Matthews, P. G. (2022, June 1-3). Which aspects of fractions knowledge support knowledge of algebra concepts, procedures, and flexibility? [Poster presentation]. Mathematics Cognition and Learning Society Conference, Antwerp, Belgium.
Viegut, A. A. (2021, September). Building a more nuanced theory of the fractions-algebra connection: Insights from math education research.

Undergraduate Research Projects

Bauman, E., Stephens, A. C., & Alibali, M. W. (2026, April 17). Relations between Grades 7-9 Students’ Proportional Reasoning Strategies and Fraction Schemes. [Poster presentation]. University of Wisconsin–Madison Undergraduate Research Symposium, Madison, Wisconsin.
Sancheti, S., Gu, K., Jasoria, S., Murray, J., Alibali, M. W. (2026, April 17). Fractions or decimals? A study of patterns of representational flexibility. [Poster presentation]. University of Wisconsin–Madison Undergraduate Research Symposium, Madison, Wisconsin.
Komosa, S., Bruschi, S., Cheng, X., Stephens, A. C., Viegut, A. A., & Alibali, M. W. (2025, April 25). Relations between grades 7–9 students’ conception of the equal sign and algebraic reasoning: Does having a dual interpretation matter? [Poster presentation]. University of Wisconsin–Madison Undergraduate Research Symposium, Madison, Wisconsin.
Pritz, M., Axness, C., Rojas, I., Westerberg, L., Viegut, A., Alibali, M., Matthews, P. G., & Stephens, A. C. (2025, April 25). Does strategy use explain the relations between students’ performance on different fraction tasks? [Poster presentation]. University of Wisconsin–Madison Undergraduate Research Symposium, Madison, Wisconsin.
Sun, X., Murray, J., Zhou, C., & Alibali, M. W. (2025, April 25). The relationship between fraction visual modeling and magnitude understanding. [Poster presentation]. University of Wisconsin–Madison Undergraduate Research Symposium, Madison, Wisconsin.
Adams, D., Sideris, P., Park, S., Buroker, V., & Matthews, P. G. (2024, April 25). Fraction schemes and magnitude as predictors of algebraic functional thinking. [Poster presentation]. University of Wisconsin–Madison Undergraduate Research Symposium, Madison, Wisconsin.

Our research is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.