Jump to content

Bonnie Litwiller

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bonnie Helen Litwiller (February 14, 1937 – January 27, 2012) was an American mathematics educator and textbook author, who worked as a professor of mathematics at the University of Northern Iowa.[1]

Life

[edit]

Litwiller was born on February 14, 1937, in Morton, Illinois.[1] She studied mathematics education at Illinois State University, earning bachelor's and master's degrees in 1959 and 1960. She earned a second master's degree in 1965 at Indiana University, and completed a doctorate (Ed.D.) there in 1968.[2] Her doctoral dissertation was Enrichment: A Method of Changing the Attitudes of Prospective Elementary Teachers Toward Mathematics.[3]

After working for seven years as a high school teacher in Peoria, Illinois, she joined the faculty of the University of Northern Iowa, where she spent the rest of her career,[1] educating a large fraction of the mathematics teachers in Iowa.[4] She served as president of the Iowa Council of Teachers of Mathematics for 1978–1979.[5]

After her retirement in 2000, she returned to Morton.[1] She continued to publish scholarly work on mathematics education into her retirement, eventually amassing over 1000 publications.[4]

She died on January 27, 2012,[1] of myelofibrosis.[6]

Books

[edit]

Litwiller's books include:

  • Activities for the Maintenance of Computational Skills and the Discovery of Patterns (with David R. Duncan, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1980)[7]
  • Problem Solving with Number Patterns (with David R. Duncan, School Science and Mathematics Association, 1987)[8]
  • Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics: First-Grade Book (with Miriam Leiva, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1991)[9]
  • Making Sense of Fractions, Ratios, and Proportions (edited with George Bright, 2002 Yearbook of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics)[10]
  • Navigating through Problem Solving and Reasoning in Grade 3 (with Karol L. Yeatts, Michael T. Battista, Sally Mayberry, Denisse R. Thompson, Judith S. Zawojewski, and Peggy A. House, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 2004)[11]

Recognition

[edit]

In 2003, the Iowa Council of Teachers of Mathematics gave Litwiller their Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004, the Indiana University School of Education gave her their Distinguished Alumni Award.[1]

An endowed scholarship in her name is offered by the Illinois State University to students in mathematics education.[2] Another scholarship, at the University of Northern Iowa, was funded by a bequest from Litwiller's estate.[12] In conjunction with the American Red Cross, the United Church of Christ of Morton, Illinois held a series of annual blood drives in her memory.[6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f "Bonnie H. Litwiller", CINewsNow, archived from the original on 2013-10-29
  2. ^ a b "Bonnie Litwiller Scholarship in Mathematics Education", Scholarship Finder, Illinois State University, retrieved 2021-08-16
  3. ^ Litwiller, Bonnie Helen (1968), Enrichment: A Method of Changing the Attitudes of Prospective Elementary Teachers Toward Mathematics (Doctoral dissertation), Indiana University, ProQuest 302302239
  4. ^ a b Johnson, Raymond (January 2012), "Bonnie H. Litwiller, 1937–2012", MathEd.net
  5. ^ ICTM History, Iowa Council of Teachers of Mathematics, retrieved 2021-08-16
  6. ^ a b 5th annual Red Cross blood drive held in memory of Bonnie Litwiller Oct. 24, American Red Cross, retrieved 2021-08-16
  7. ^ Reviews of Activities for the Maintenance of Computational Skills and the Discovery of Patterns:
  8. ^ Reviews of Problem Solving with Number Patterns:
    • Caldwell, Janet H. (March 1988), The Mathematics Teacher, 81 (3): 230–231, JSTOR 27965778{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
    • Corn, Mary Louise (September 1988), The Arithmetic Teacher, 36 (1): 58, JSTOR 41194362{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  9. ^ Review of Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics:
    • Doyle, Desmond (December 1992), The Arithmetic Teacher, 40 (4): 240, JSTOR 41195323{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  10. ^ Review of Making Sense of Fractions, Ratios, and Proportions:
    • Priest, Nadine (January 2003), The Mathematics Teacher, 96 (1): 76, JSTOR 20871230{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  11. ^ Review of Navigating through Problem Solving and Reasoning in Grade 3:
    • Clark, Lynn L. (March 2005), Teaching Children Mathematics, 11 (7): 399, JSTOR 41199836{{citation}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  12. ^ "UNI gets $1.5 million gift for math teacher scholarship", The Gazette, 30 May 2012