About

Karen Hollebrands is a faculty member at the College of Education at NC State University. Her contact email is kfholleb@ncsu.edu and her phone number is 919-513-0505. She is listed among the leadership team of the college, indicating her role involves significant responsibilities within the institution. Specific details about her research focus, background, or key contributions are not provided in the page text.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Psychology
• Mathematics education
• Pedagogy
• Mathematics
• World Wide Web
• Medicine
• Virology

Selected publications

• Geometry education at secondary level – a systematic literature review

  ZDM · 2025-06-03 · 6 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Abstract This systematic literature review summarises research on geometry education published since 2013. It begins with a conceptualization of the geometry education using the didactic tetrahedron model. The PRISMA guidelines were used to search five databases, in addition to conference proceedings and journals. The keywords and abstracts from the articles were analyzed using the “Voyant Tool” that created a list of the frequencies of words and their possible relationships to each other. Based on this analysis, the articles were coded using the didactic tetrahedron model. This informed the development of codes that were analyzed to develop categories related to the process skills Arguing and Reasoning, Proving and Reasoning, Problem Solving, and Modeling; the content skills Plane Geometry, Spatial Geometry, and Measurement, including Area and Volume; concepts that include Assessment, Gamification and Computational Thinking; and finally Teaching Competencies and Teaching Theories. The results of this overview show trends and developments that should be considered in geometry research in the coming years.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• High School Mathematics Teachers' Support for Students' Focus on the Properties of Geometric Solids Using Dynamic Geometry Software

  HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) · 2025-02-04

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  International audience

  PublisherOA PDF

• Examining the effect of active participation on the TPACK knowledge of mathematics educators in a teaching mathematics with technology MOOC

  International Journal of Educational Research Open · 2025-04-17 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  As the demand for incorporating educational technologies into the mathematics teaching curriculum rises, there is an increasing need for teachers to cultivate the competencies and skills essential for the effective integration of technology into their teaching methods. Massive Open Online Courses for Educators (MOOC-Eds) present teachers with valuable opportunities for professional development. The objective of this quantitative research study was to enhance our understanding of the specific types of knowledge acquired by teachers through active participation in a MOOC-Ed designed for mathematics educators. A pre- and post-TPACK survey was administered to 39 participants to assess the change in knowledge among active teacher-learners before and after their experience with the MOOC-Ed. The quantitative results obtained through paired sample t -testing revealed statistically significant growth, with a substantial effect size observed from the pre-survey to the post-survey in the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) domain for both active and highly active teacher-learners. Teachers highlighted that the most significant impact on their professional learning experience was the increased knowledge of integrating pedagogical techniques with technological tools and enhancing their content knowledge to facilitate student-centered lessons.

  PublisherDOI

• A Synthesis of Frameworks to Describe Students’ Geometric Thinking while Working on Technology-Based Dynamic Geometry Tasks

  International Journal for Technology in Mathematics Education · 2025-12-01

  article

  This paper presents the Technology-Based Geometric Thinking Framework for analyzing students’ geometric thinking within dynamic geometry environments (DGEs). The framework identifies four interconnected dimensions: engaging in exploration, developing and applying definitions, investigating invariance, and generating explanations, justifications, and proofs. By synthesizing established geometric theories with DGE-specific interactions, this framework provides researchers a structured approach for examining how technology mediates geometric thinking, illustrated through the analysis of student interactions with a dynamic geometry task. This framework has the potential to inform curriculum design, teacher practice, and the development of digital tools by offering a structured lens for interpreting students??? geometric reasoning in technology-rich contexts. While this study draws on a single task with a small sample of students, the framework lays groundwork for broader application and further validation.

  PublisherDOI

• Examining the Effects of Teachers' Engagement with a Dynamic Geometry Task Analysis Framework on their Written Geometry Tasks

  Digital Experiences in Mathematics Education · 2025-11-13

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Abstract This study examined how pre-service and in-service secondary mathematics teachers’ engagement with a Dynamic Geometry Task Analysis Framework impacted their task writing and planning for students’ use of dynamic geometry. During a task-based interview, teachers designed a task in dynamic geometry using The Geometer’s Sketchpad . They then had an opportunity to read about and discuss a research-based framework for analyzing and designing dynamic geometry tasks. Afterwards, teachers had a chance to revisit and potentially revise their original task. Analysis revealed themes associated with task revisions and instructional planning, including research-based recommendations for utilizing dynamic geometry. Study results include evidence for the effectiveness of engagements with this framework for supporting teachers with the complexities of incorporating dynamic geometry into mathematics classrooms.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Preparing Secondary Prospective Teachers to Teach Mathematics with Technology

  2024-01-30

  book-chapterSenior author

  The Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators’ (2017)Standards for Preparing Teachers of Mathematics (SPTM) has set aspirational goals for the preparation of well-prepared beginning teachers of mathematics that includes teaching with mathematics action technologies. These standards require that beginning teachers of mathematics not only be proficient users of technologies, but also understand how to use technology in meaningful ways to support students’ thinking. In this chapter we describe where we are as a field with respect to meeting the goals of the SPTM related to teaching with technology. With problems of practice and theory related to the work of MTEs in preparing secondary mathematics teachers to teach mathematics with technology as a guidepost, we lay out foundational work in this area (the past), followed by the current efforts by three projects to address the practical and theoretical challenges MTEs are facing. Finally, we describe our vision for the work that is needed down the road for us to make headway towards meeting the aspirational goals laid out in the AMTE SPTM.

  PublisherDOI

• analysis of similarity concept presented in textbooks in Brazil and the United States

  Educação Matemática Pesquisa Revista do Programa de Estudos Pós-Graduados em Educação Matemática · 2023-08-20

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  This paper is a product of a research that investigates the presence of Geometry in textbooks, that is part of project of a Theorem – Reflection on Geometry and Mathematics Education research group. The focus here is to present results of the international study: how textbooks present the concept of similarity? For this, a qualitative research were developed and textbooks of three collections from Brazil and three from United States were examined. A synthesis of the literature related to the search for textbooks and the teaching and learning of the concept of similarity is presented, and the theoretical framework explores similarity as positioned at the crossroads of geometry and number to describe the ways in which different textbooks approach it. Sequence of topics and tasks presented in each textbook are described and then comparisons are made. There were theorems and problem types that were presented consistently across all textbooks, but differences in expectations related to proof and the use of coordinates and geometric transformations were identified. Only textbooks in the US included the use of transformations and coordinates and placed more emphasis on formal proof. Implications for the teaching and learning of similarity are provided

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Mathematics Teacher Educator: Looking Forward and Looking Backward

  Mathematics Teacher Educator · 2022-06-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Teachers' perceptions of using technology to teach mathematics during COVID-19 remote learning

  Journal of Research in Mathematics Education · 2022 · 13 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Mathematics education
  • Psychology

  There are concerns that current remote learning efforts in response to COVID-19 may not be measuring up to the quality of classroom-based instruction. This study investigated two high school teachers’ perceptions of the issues surrounding teaching mathematics remotely and factors that contributed to their use of technology while teaching online. The results show that both teachers found teaching mathematics online more difficult compared to classroom-based instruction. The main concerns expressed by these teachers focused on the difficulty to receive feedback from students and limited student interaction. This made it difficult to assess students’ understanding during lessons. They also expressed concerns about the difficulty in implementing aspects of a task-based curriculum that relies heavily on classroom discourse and interaction; and the challenge of finding quality and usable resources for online instruction. This study also identified several factors that influenced teachers’ use of technology during COVID-19 remote learning. Implications for teacher professional development, online instruction, and policy are discussed. Keywords COVID-19 pandemic, remote learning, technology, perception, MVP curriculum, classroom-based instruction.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Prospective High School Mathematics Teachers’ Uses of Diagrams and Geometric Transformations While Reasoning about Geometric Proof Tasks

  International Journal for Technology in Mathematics Education · 2022-03-01

  article

  The purpose of this study was to examine prospective teachers’ uses of diagrams and approaches to congruence while solving proof tasks. Eight prospective high school mathematics teachers were given three proof tasks to solve at the beginning and end of a mathematics education course. The course used the history of mathematics as the context for assisting teachers in making connections between important mathematical ideas. A unit of instruction used technology-based activities to support a transformational approach to congruence. Analysis revealed that at the beginning of the course teachers approached congruence proofs using perceptual or correspondence approach and used a descriptive mode of interaction with diagrams. At the end of the course, their approaches to congruence included more instances of transformations and measures and their interactions with diagrams included fewer uses of the descriptive mode and more instances of representational, generative, and functional modes.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• Preparing to Teach Mathematics with Technology (PTMT): An Integrated Approach

  NSF · $500k · 2008–2012

• Technology-Rich Units for Future Secondary Teachers: Forging Dynamic Connections Between Geometry and Functions

  NSF · $315k · 2017–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Hollylynne S. Lee

  North Central State College

  16 shared

• Samet Okumuş

  Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University

  10 shared

• Allison W. McCulloch

  University of North Carolina at Charlotte

  6 shared

• Eric Wiebe

  6 shared

• John Lee

  5 shared

• Laura Bottomley

  North Carolina State University

  5 shared

• Emily Elrod

  Florida Institute of Technology

  5 shared

• Heather West

  North Carolina State University

  5 shared

Labs

• Karen Hollebrands LabPI

Education

• Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction

  Pennsylvania State University

  2001

• Masters of Education in Mathematics Education

  North Carolina State University

  1995

• BS in Secondary Education - Mathematics

  State University of New York at Oswego

  1989

Awards & honors

• Inducted into the Academy of Outstanding Teachers at NC Stat…
• Named an Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor (2014)
• University Faculty Scholar (2015)