Samuel Cook
Clinical Associate Professor
Dr. Samuel Cook is a clinical associate professor of math education with an affiliation in the College of Arts & Sciences Mathematics and Statistics. An applied statistician, he is active in the Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (RUME) community, where he studies inquiry-based learning in undergraduate math classes and statistics education.
Dr. Cook is BU Wheelock’s resident statistician and provides support to faculty and doctoral candidates in their research pursuits. He teaches an eclectic array of classes for BU Wheelock, CAS Math and Stats, and Kilachand Honors College, including statistics, various research methods courses, and the support courses for the Kilachand Senior Keystone Project.
Before pursuing a PhD, Dr. Cook taught math and physics for AVID, a high school program that supports potential first-generation college students. During graduate school, he worked with AGEP, a program that supports underrepresented minorities in their pursuit of a PhD.
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Education
PhD, Statistics, Stony Brook University
MS, Applied Mathematics, Stony Brook University
BS, Mathematics, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (formerly UT - Pan American)
Courses
SED RS 600 - Introduction to Research
CAS MA 113 - Elementary Statistics
KHC HC 401 - The Process of Discovery
KHC HC 501 - Innovation, Culture and Society I
KHC HC 502 - Innovation, Culture and Society II
Research
Dr. Cook's primary research agenda lives in the RUME community. He studies undergraduate understanding and learning of fundamental statistical concepts such as the mean and standard deviation. His secondary agenda is postsecondary Inquiry Based Teaching and Learning in mathematics. In addition, Dr. Cook has recently started the "Wheelock Eye Tracking Lab", where he will be studying how undergraduate students interact with text books using eye tracking technology.
If you are a student (graduate or undergraduate) interested in pursuing research in these areas, Dr. Cook is hiring part-time research assistants and you can send him an email indicating your interest.
Visit Dr. Cook's Faculty ProfileSelected Publications
Cook, S. A., & Borkovitz, D. K. (2017). Student Perceptions of a Mathematics Major for Prospective Elementary Teachers with an Inquiry‐Based Philosophy. PRIMUS, 27(1), 125-147.
Kim, H. W., Fukawa-Connelly, T., & Cook, S. A. (2016). Student understanding of symbols in introductory statistics courses. In The Teaching and Learning of Statistics (pp. 163-174). Springer International Publishing.
Cook, S. A., & Fukawa-Connelly, T. (2016). The incoming statistical knowledge of undergraduate majors in a department of mathematics and statistics. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 47(2), 167-184.
Cook, S., Murphy, S. & Fukawa-Connelly, T. (2016); Divergent definitions of inquiry-based learning in undergraduate mathematics. SIGMAA RUME: Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. Pittsburgh, PA