Delinda van Garderen, PhD, is a Professor of special education. She is currently the Chair in the Department of Special Education at the University of Missouri. Her research interests focus on students with learning disabilities, struggling learners, visual representations in mathematics word problem solving, STEM literacy, argumentation, and teacher practice and development. Recent or current research projects include teacher professional development to integrate STEM literacy in instruction, how students and teachers use representations to solve mathematics word problems, student development and intervention in number (e.g., conservation of quantity, numerical magnitude), and use of Universal Design for Learning to plan instruction to meet the needs of diverse learners in science. She has mentored doctoral graduate students in educational research training and has prepared many graduate and undergraduate students to be teachers in both general and special education. She has written approximately 50 peer-reviewed articles, one co-authored book, and ten book chapters and has received over $6.5 million dollars on federally funded grants.

Areas of Expertise

• Learner characteristics and development in mathematics
• Interventions in mathematics to improve knowledge of number and problem solving
• Teacher professional development in science or mathematics