Rate My Professor Diane Barrett

Diane Barrett is Professor of Education in the School of Education at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, where she serves as the MAT Advisor for the Secondary Education Track (Grades 6-12) in the Master of Arts in Teaching program. She earned a B.S. in 1990 and an M.S. in 1995 from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and a Ph.D. in 2004 from Claremont Graduate University. Before entering academia, Barrett spent ten years as a high school mathematics teacher. Her research focuses on mathematics education, particularly math anxiety, inquiry-based approaches in mathematics and science classrooms, pedagogical content knowledge, assessment practices, and the effects of teacher collaboration on student achievement. She teaches mathematics and science education methods courses to undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students, as well as in-service teachers in the Master of Education program. Additionally, she provides professional development workshops for kindergarten through 12th-grade teachers in mathematics, aligned with the Common Core State Standards.

Barrett collaborated with University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo colleagues to develop high school mathematics curriculum outlines for the state of Hawaiʻi, taking lead responsibility for the Geometry course. In 2010, she served as principal investigator for a $769,700 National Science Foundation grant funding the Hawaiʻi Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program (HiNTS), a five-year initiative offering stipends, educational technology, professional development, and support to prospective secondary mathematics teachers, with an emphasis on students of Hawaiian and mixed ancestry to address Hawaiʻi's cultural and economic diversity. Her publications include "A qualitative inquiry: Teachers' attitudes and willingness to engage in professional development experiences at different career stages" (2013), "Pedagogical Content Knowledge as a Foundation for an Interdisciplinary Graduate Program" (2009), "Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Attitudes Improve and Math Anxiety Decreases with Focus upon Manipulatives Use Program" (2013), "Teachers' Collaborative Use of the Lesson Study Approach to Foster Student Achievement in Geometry" (2013), and "Teachers' Evaluation of a Technology- and Scenario-Based Math Summit" (2012). Promoted to Professor in 2014, she has participated in UH Hilo Graduate Council and contributed to the full accreditation of the teacher licensure program in 2021.