Mathematics Faculty & Staff

2018  PhD, Mathematics Education, North Carolina State University

2013  MS, Applied Mathematics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

2013  BS, Mathematics, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

• MATH 136: Calculus I
• MATH 205: Mathematics for K-8 Teachers: Number and Operations
• MATH 270: The Mathematics of Social Justice
• MATH 308: Mathematics for K-8 Teachers: Rational Numbers
• MATH 331: Differential Equations
• MATH 411/411G: Problem Solving for Elementary and Middle Grades Teachers (Online Course)
• MATH 413: Algebra and Technology for Middle Grades Teachers
• MATH 504: Applications of Technology to Problems in Mathematics (Online Course)
• MATH 512: Geometry from an Advanced Perspective (Online Course)
• MATH 514: Mathematical Modeling and Applications (Online Course)
• MATH 585: Advanced Mathematical Thinking I (Online Course)
• MATH 595: Advanced Mathematical Thinking II (Online Course)

Dr. Fortune's research centers around instructional change in undergraduate mathematics and how mathematics faculty can collaborate on pedagogy and student thinking to support their instructional change, as well as, supporting pre-service teachers in teacher preparation programs through connecting the content in their content courses to the content they will teach in high school.

Current External Funding

National Science Foundation – Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE), Engaged Student Learning Level 2. Making upper division mathematics courses more relevant for future high school teachers: Inquiry-Oriented Dynamical Systems and Modeling as a case example. Co-Principal Investigator (PI: Dr. Chris Rasmussen). June 2024 – May 2027. Funded at $118,125 (WKU sub-award, $82,032 direct); $748,901 (Total Award).

• Fortune, N., Hall, W., Chikhany, R., & Keene, K. A. (2023). A framework for facilitator actions in professional development that support mathematicians’ instructional change. PRIMUS, 33(9), 1055 –1069. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2023.2229314.
• Cheathon, V., Fortune, N., & Hall, W. (accepted, in press). Reflecting on the role of assessment in placement and evaluating student learning in calculus. In M. Voigt, J. E. Hagman, J. Gehrtz, B. Ratliff, N. Alexander, & R. Levy (Eds.), Justice through the lens of calculus: Framing new possibilities for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Mathematical Association of America. https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.11486.   
• Reinholz, D., Johnson, E., Andrews-Larson, C., Stone-Johnstone, A., Smith, J., Mullins, S. B., Fortune, N., Keene, K. A., & Shah, N. (2022). When active learning is inequitable: Women’s participation predicts gender inequities in mathematical performance. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 53(3), 204 – 226. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc-2020-0143.
• Oremland, L., Dunmyre, J., & Fortune, N. (2022). Reinventing the Salty Tank through guided inquiry. PRIMUS, 32(5), 621 – 635. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2021.1879332.
• Zwanch, K., Mullins, S. B., Fortune, N., & Keene, K. A. (2021). Situating students’ achievement and perceptions of inquiry-oriented instruction within their motivational beliefs: A mixed methods study. Investigations in Mathematics Learning, 13(2), 141 – 151. https://doi.org/10.1080/19477503.2021.1884446.
• Fortune, N. & Keene, K. A. (2021). Participating in an online working group and reforming instruction: The case of Dr. DM. International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, 7(1), 107 – 139. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40753-020-00126-5.
• Johnson, E., Andrews-Larson, C., Keene, K. A., Melhuish, K., Keller, R., & Fortune, N. (2020). Inquiry and gender inequity in the undergraduate mathematics classroom. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 51(4), 504 – 516. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5951/jresematheduc-2020-0043.
• Fortune, N., Rasmussen, C., Keene, K. A., Bogart, T., & Dunmyre, J. (2020). Bringing social justice topics to differential equations via a climate change problem: Identity, power, access, and achievement. MathAMATYC Educator, 11(3), 26 – 32, 66 – 67. https://amatyc.site-ym.com/page/EducatorSpring2020.
• Rasmussen, C., Dunmyre, J., Fortune, N., & Keene, K. A. (2019). Modeling as a means to develop new ideas: The case of reinventing a bifurcation diagram. PRIMUS, 29(6), 509 – 526. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2018.1472160.
• Dunmyre, J., Fortune, N., Bogart, T., Rasmussen, C., & Keene, K. A. (2019). Climate change in a differential equations course: Using bifurcation diagrams to explore small changes with big effects. Community of Ordinary Differential Equations Educators (CODEE) Journal, 12(1), 1 – 10. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/codee/vol12/iss1/1.