Faculty Profile for Dr. Alex White

profile photo for Dr. Alex White
Dr. Alex White
Professor — Mathematics
MCS 472
phone: (512) 245-3741
Scholarly/Creative Work
Awards
Grants
Service

Biography Section

Biography and Education

 Alexander White has a Ph.D. in Statistics from Michigan State University, is a Professor of Mathematics with interests in Mathematics Education. He was Doctoral Program Advisor in Mathematics Education for 12 years, Chair of the Nontenure Line Faculty Committee (2015-2017) and Chair of the Faculty Senate (2017 to 2019). He is currently Assistant Chair of Mathematics. Dr. White has consulted on in test development, sample selection and evaluation for several international organizations. He collaborates with Texas State Mathworks, a center for mathematics education at Texas State University on curriculum development and professional development, as well as mentoring talented high school students in summer research projects. He is the author of multiple publications on the effect of using technology to teach geometry, the use of visualizations in mathematics and statistics classrooms, and the co-author of a middle school mathematics Algebra I textbook.

Teaching Interests

 Statistics

Research Interests

 Statistics Education, Visualization of Functions, Middle School Mathematics, Technology for Teaching

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • White, I., Zahner, W., & White, A. (2024). Catalyzing teacher moves in small group problem-solving: a quantitative discourse analysis. International Journal of Research & Method in Education., 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2024.2384732
  • Melhuish, K. M., Thanheiser, E., White, A., Rosencrans, B., Foreman, L., Shaughnessy, J. M., … Riffel, A. (2022). The Efficacy of a “Mathematics for All” Professional Development. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 53(4), 307–333.
  • Harrell-Williams, L. M., Lovett, J. N., Sorto, M. A., Pierce, R. L., Lesser, L. M., & Murphy, T. J. (2018). Using the SETS Level A Items to Classify Pre-service Teachers’ Self-Efficacy to Teach Statistics: An Application of the Mixture Rasch Model. In M. A. Sorto, A. White, & L. Guyot (Eds.), Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Teaching Statistics (ICOTS10). Voorburg, The Netherlands: International Statistical Institute. Retrieved from http://iase-web.org/icots/10/proceedings/pdfs/ICOTS10_C220.pdf
  • Layla Guyot, Walker, A. N., & White, A. (2018). Challenges for Independent Student Projects: A persepective of the Teacher. In International Statistical Institute. The Netherlands. Retrieved from https://icots.info/10/?contributed=C290
  • White, A., Guyot, L., & Walker, A. N. (2018). Data In Search of a Context: An Icebreaker Activity. In International Statistical Institute. The Netherlands. Retrieved from https://icots.info/10/proceedings/pdfs/ICOTS10_9K1.pdf

Selected Awards

  • Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Distinction Award for Excellence in Service, College of Science and Engineering. August 2017
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Service Excellence Award, Mathematics Department. 2020
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Favorite Professor, Alpha Chi National Honor Society. December 2016
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Service Excellence Award, Mathematics Department. December 2016
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Favorite Professor, Alpha Chi National Honor Society. May 2016

Selected Grants

  • Bishop, Jessica (Principal), White, Alexander (Supporting). MCA: Toward analyses of mathematics classroom discourse at scale using tools from applied mathematics., NSF, Federal, $351072. (Submitted: July 2022, Funded: January 2023 - December 2025). Grant.
  • Fulton, Lawrence V (Principal), Villagran, Melinda Morris (Co-Principal), , Bing Zhou (Co-Principal), Mendez, Francis A (Co-Principal), Ekin, Tahir (Co-Principal), Qasem, Apan Muhammad (Co-Principal), Konur, Dincer (Supporting), Alanis, Emmanuel (Supporting), Zihagh, Fereshteh (Supporting), Dong, Zhijie (Co-Principal), Shen, Xiaoxi (Supporting), De Nadai, Alessandro Stevens (Supporting), Zhu, Ye (Co-Principal), Hewitt, Barbara A (Co-Principal), Valles Molina, Damian (Supporting), White, Alexander (Supporting), Dolezel, Diane M (Supporting), Ioudina, Vera (Supporting), Islam, Tanzima Z (Supporting), Lee, Chul Ho (Supporting), Metsis, Vangelis (Supporting), Moradi, Masoud (Supporting), Gao, Ju (Supporting), Li-Jen, Lester (Supporting), Jones, Dustin (Supporting), Pham, Vung (Supporting), Holt, Melinda (Supporting), Kyung An, Min (Supporting), Islam, ABM (Supporting), Cho, Hyuk (Supporting), Liu, Quigzhoung (Supporting), Liang, Fan (Supporting), Topinka, Joseph Baar (Supporting). The Accelerating Credentials of Purpose and Value for the Texas Innovation Corridor (TIC) Consortium Grant, THECB, State, $1450000. (Submitted: November 2021, Funded: February 2022 - October 2022). Grant.
  • Czocher, Jennifer Ann, White, Alexander (Supporting), Strickland, Sharon K (Supporting). CAREER: Scaffolding Strategies for Undergraduate Mathematical Modeling Skills, NSF, Federal, $954500. (Submitted: July 2017, Funded: September 2018 - August 2024). Grant.
  • Suh, Emily Kyung Jin (Principal), White, Alexander (Co-Principal), Gerlofs, Maureen Patricia (Supporting). THECB College Readiness and Success Models, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, State, $100000. (Funded: August 31, 2023 - August 1, 2025). Grant.
  • Westbrook, Thersa (Principal), Suh, Emily Kyung Jin (Co-Principal), White, Alexander (Supporting). THECB College Readiness Model, Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, State, $100000. (Funded: August 31, 2021 - August 1, 2024). Grant.

Selected Service Activities

Member
General Education Council
September 2019-Present
Assistant Department Chair
June 2019-January 2022
Chair
Faculty Senate, Texas State University
June 2017-May 2019
Vice Chair
Faculty Senate, Texas State University
June 2015-May 2017
Member
Texas CADS Organization and Communication Workgroup
September 2023-Present