Mitchell J. Nathan

Nathan uses experimental design and video based discourse analysis methods to study learning and teaching in school settings. His research investigates the role of prior knowledge and invented strategies in the development of algebraic thinking, the notion of Expert Blind Spot to explain teachers' instructional decision making, and how teachers use gestures, embodiment and objects to convey abstract ideas during instruction.

He is principal researcher for the STAAR project (Supporting the Transition from Arithmetic to Algebraic Reasoning) funded through the IERI program by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education's Institute for Educational Sciences, and National Institutes of Health-NICHD), and has secured over $10 million in research funds as a PI or co-PI.

He has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers in his subject; the most cited one has been cited 316 times according to Google Scholar.