By Johnny W. Lott
NCTM's Mathematics Education Trust (MET) relies on contributions from Council members and other individuals, Affiliates, and corporations. Gifts to the E. Glenadine Gibb Fund help support the 7-12 Classroom Research Grants which support and encourage classroom-based research in precollege mathematics education in collaboration with college or university mathematics educators.
E. Glenadine Gibb (1919-1984)
Born in Biggsville, Illinois on June 8, 1919, Elizabeth Glenadine Gibb became an outstanding mathematics educator during her lifetime. Earning a bachelor of education degree from Western Illinois University in 1941, a master of arts at George Peabody College for Teachers (Nashville, Tenn.), and a doctor of philosophy degree at the University of Wisconsin in 1953, Gibb earned the respect and love of many.
Her teaching of mathematics and science began in a secondary school in Mendon, Illinois, and lasted for four years while she earned her master's degree. In 1945 she taught mathematics for one year in secondary school in Geneseo, Illinois, after which she was hired as an assistant professor of mathematics at Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa). She was promoted to full professor there after receiving her doctoral degree. In 1965, Gibb became an endowed professor receiving the Catherine Mae Parker Centennial Professorship in Education with joint appointments in the Departments of Curriculum and Instruction and the Department of Mathematics at the University of Texas in Austin. Gibb remained primarily at the University of Texas until her death on June 29, 1984 of cancer. A primary job in Texas was to create an interdisciplinary graduate program in mathematics education. Gibb, known as Glen to friends, was a visiting lecturer or professor at the universities of Wisconsin, Michigan, Vermont, and Georgia as well as at Marshall University during her career.
Gibb's ties to NCTM were extensive. She was the initial editor of the Arithmetic Teacher in 1960, a position she held for six years to establish the journal as the journal for elementary mathematics teachers in the United States. A frequent speaker at national and regional conferences each year, Gibb was elected vice president of NCTM in 1958 and as president in 1974. In 1977, she was elected president of the Alliance of American Association for the Advancement of Education.
Not only was Gibb an outstanding professor, her professionalism and knowledge led to her chairing the Planning Committee for the School Mathematics Study Group (SMSG) curriculum and being a co-author of K-3 textbooks. She worked in federally funded projects for the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory, the University of Maryland Mathematics Project, and the Research and Development Center for Teacher Education at the University of Texas, directed six projects for improving elementary mathematics education, and two Prospective Teacher Fellowship programs.
As an exemplary speaker, she was invited to speak at major international conferences in Canada, England, France, Germany, Japan, and Venezuela. From 1976-79, she was a member of the advisory committee to the Science Education Directorate of the National Science Foundation.
Gibb had more than 100 authored or co-authored publications with contributions to the Arithmetic Teacher, Mathematics Teacher, Journal of Educational Research, Journal of Experimental Education, School Science and Mathematics, Grade Teacher, Review of Educational Research, Today's Education, Mental Measurements Yearbook, the Encyclopedia of Educational Research, five yearbooks of NCTM, and the Scott Foresman elementary school mathematics textbook series. One seminal work was “General Mental Functions Associated with Division” gave insight into the separation of computational skill and understanding.
Gibb supervised 21 doctoral dissertations, 33 masters theses/reports, and supervised hundreds of future elementary teachers' student teaching. According to a memorial at the University of Texas, she was her students' teacher, professional advisor and personal counselor. “Her office and her home were always open when a student needed her attention. Her Christmas parties for students and colleagues and her convention parties for former students achieved an international reputation.”
A recipient of many honors, Gibb's commitment to mathematics education was confirmed in her will when she provided a $50,000 endowment to NCTM and a $50,000 endowment to the E. Glenadine Gibb Fellowship in Mathematics Education at the University of Texas in Austin.
“In Memoriam: E. Glenadine Gibb.” Prepared by L. Ray Carry, Ralph W. Cain, and Leonard Gillman for the University of Texas at Austin, 1984.
Recent Grant Recipient
Patti J. Davis is the latest recipient of the 7-12 Classroom Research Grant. Patti is collaborating with Sherri A. Snider of Olney Central College. Grant funds will be used to determine if one instructional approach is more effective than another in increasing student performance from pre-test to post-test. The mathematical concept to be considered is the Pythagorean Theorem at an eighth grade level. The three instructional approaches to be employed in this project are direct instruction; flipped instruction; and Common Core instruction consisting of conceptualization, procedural, and application activities.