Charles Hohensee

Associate Professor

Dr. Charles Hohensee is an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of Delaware. His research examines what happens when learners form beginning conceptions of complex concepts at the middle and high school levels. More specifically, he is interested in the phenomenon of backward transfer, which describes how learning something new influences a learner’s prior knowledge. For example, he has conducted a study that investigated how middle school students’ prior knowledge of linear functions changed as a result of learning about quadratic functions. Recently, he discussed his work on teachers’ awareness of the relationship between prior knowledge and new learning on Math Ed Podcast.

Educational Background

• Ph.D., Mathematics Education, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, 2011
• M.A., Mathematics Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, 2007
• B.Sc., Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, 1985

Professional Experience

• Associate Professor, School of Education, University of Delaware, 2017–present
• Assistant Professor, School of Education, University of Delaware, 2011–2017

Recent Professional Awards

• Early Career Publication Award (2015), American Educational Research Association (AERA) Special Interest Group for Research in Mathematics Education (SIG-RME), 2015
• Service, Teaching and Research (STaR) Fellow, National Science Foundation, 2012