Mathematics Faculty & Staff

2023  Ph.D., Mathematics Education, Arizona State University
2016  M.S., Mathematics, Western Kentucky University
2014  B.S., Mathematics and Physics, Georgetown College

• MATH 514: Mathematical Modeling and its Applications
• MATH 512: Geometry from an Advanced Perspective
• MATH 504: Application of Technology to Problems in Mathematics
• MATH 503: Intro to Analysis
• MATH 411/411G: Problem Solving for Elementary and Middle Grades Teachers 
• MATH 237: Multivariable Calculus
• MATH 206: Fundamentals of Geometry for Teachers
• MATH 116C: College Algebra
• MA 109C: General Mathematics
• DMA 096C: Intermediate Algebra

Dr. Bettersworth is a mathematics education researcher focusing on ways to use student reasoning to inform the iterative design of mathematics courses. He is curious about ways to elicit and incorporate student reasoning in inquiry-oriented instructional settings and using the design heuristics of Realistic Mathematics Education to inform his research practice and course design. Currently his focus has been on developing instructional units for linear algebra and multivariable calculus. His other areas of interest include incorporating digital activities and digital game-based learning in course design and supporting preservice and inservice secondary mathematics teachers in making connections between advanced mathematics content and their current or future teaching.

Selected Publications     

• Bettersworth, Z., Hartman, S., & Fortune, N. (2026). A conceptual framework of emergent utility of advanced mathematics for inservice teachers. In A.P. Adiredja, B.P. Katz, K. Melhuish, & K. Gallagher (Eds.), Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 789–797). Alexandria, VA.
• Bettersworth, Z., Smith, J., & Mauntel, M. (2026). Shore to Shore: Students’ Progressive Mathematization of Null Spaces. In A.P. Adiredja, B.P. Katz, K. Melhuish, & K. Gallagher (Eds.), Proceedings of the 28th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 286–293). Alexandria, VA.
• Bettersworth, Z., Hartman, S., & Fortune, N. (2025). Interactive digital activities in real analysis for in-service teachers. In S. Cook, B.P. Katz, & K. Melhuish (Eds.), Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 1474–1475). SIGMAA on RUME. Alexandria, VA.
• Smith, J., Mauntel, M., & Bettersworth, Z. (2025). Building hallways to collaborative reasoning in an Inquiry-Oriented Linear Algebra activity. In S. Cook, B.P. Katz, & K. Melhuish (Eds.), Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 1220–1225). SIGMAA on RUME. Alexandria, VA.
• Wawro, M., Zandieh, M., & Bettersworth, Z. (2025). An inquiry-oriented approach to least squares in linear algebra. In M. Bosch, G. Bolondi, S. Carreira, C. Spagnolo, & M. Gaidoschik (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fourteenth Congress of European Research in Mathematics Education (CERME14), (pp. 2357-2364). Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and ERME.
• Zandieh, M., Bettersworth, Z., Mauntel, M., Plaxco, D., & Davis, E. (2025). Reasoning about linear combinations and span in a digital game. In S. Cook, B.P. Katz, & K. Melhuish (Eds.), Proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 792-799). SIGMAA on RUME. Alexandria, VA.
• Bettersworth, Z. (2024). STEM students’ personal meanings for mathematical symbols: The case of partial and directional derivatives. In A.S. Gonźalez-Martín, G. Gueudet, I. Florensa, & N. Lombard (Eds.), Proceedings of the Fifth Conference of the International Network for Didactic Research in University Mathematics (INDRUM 2024) (pp. 525-526). University Autònoma de Barcelona and INDRUM. Barcelona, Spain.
• Bettersworth, Z., (2024). Two students’ meanings for partial and directional derivatives when constructing linear approximations: The Cases of Alonzo and John. In S. Cook, B.P. Katz, & D. Moore-Russo (Eds.), Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 763-772). SIGMAA on RUME. Omaha, NE.
• Bettersworth, Z., Fortune, N., & Hartman, S. (2024). Online real analysis for in-service teachers’ meanings for continuity and differentiability. In S. Cook, B.P. Katz, & D. Moore-Russo (Eds.), Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (pp. 1295-1296). SIGMAA on RUME. Omaha, NE.

Curricular Units

• Zandieh, M., Andrews-Larson, C., Kim, M., Mauntel, M. Smith, J., Lee, I., & Bettersworth, Z. (2025). The IOLA Systems Unit. Available at https://iola.math.vt.edu. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
• Wawro, M., Zandieh, M., Bettersworth, Z., & Lee, I. (2025). The IOLA Least Squares Unit. Available at https://iola.math.vt.edu. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.