Faculty Profiles
Karina Hensberry
Associate Professor, mathematics education
Email Address: khensberry@usf.edu
Phone Number: 727-873-4273
Office Location: USF St. Petersburg campus, HWH 217
Education
- M.Ed. University of Florida
- Ph.D. University of Florida
Dr. Hensberry’s primary goal as a faculty member in the College of Education is to improve mathematics learning for students of all backgrounds. Her research interests and expertise center around three strands. First, Dr. Hensberry’s research focuses on deepening our understanding of effective practices for teaching mathematics. For instance, her earlier work around the design and development of interactive simulations (sims) for mathematics expanded into a focus on best practices for effectively teaching math with technology. Dr. Hensberry believes knowing what works in a classroom does little good if we don’t support teachers to implement those effective practices. As such, the second strand of her research centers on mathematics teacher education and professional development. She works to deepen our understanding of how to support change in teacher practice, with an emphasis on i) research around effective professional learning experiences and ii) transforming theory-to-practice for practitioners. Many of Dr. Hensberry’s personal life experiences have shaped the way she approaches both teaching and teacher education. Consequently, these two strands also include attending to the experiences and funds of knowledge of academic mothers in mathematics education. Third, Dr. Hensberry’s research takes a transdisciplinary approach to mathematics, including Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (STEAM) Education. She also attends to culture and language in her work, and promotes informal or outdoor education as a venue for realistic and relevant math and STEAM education.
Dr. Hensberry teaches various undergraduate and graduate courses in both math and STEM education. As an educator, Dr. Hensberry strives to model best practices for her students and engage them in the ways that she hopes they will engage their own students. This means building strong relationships with students, keeping up to date on current research on how best to support teachers to improve their practice, being reflective and responsive, and revising course materials and assignments regularly based on student feedback and outcomes. She strives to support her students to connect theory to practice, so that they can immediately implement what they learn. Dr. Hensberry’s research and teaching are intricately linked, in that she studies her own teaching and the teaching of others as part of her research, and uses what she learns through that research to improve her teaching.
Dr. Hensberry is actively engaged in service. Since she began at USF, she has served as a member of the St. Petersburg Research Council to support faculty and student research at the university and around the community. She also coordinates the STEM Education program, reviews for refereed journals and national conferences, and volunteers at local schools. In all of her service work, Dr. Hensberry’s goal is to be thoughtful in each role that she takes on and to contribute in a significant way.