Karen Givvin
Adjunct Professor
Broadly speaking, my research focuses on teaching and learning. Specifically, I’m interested in how students learn math and how teachers can best help them do so. I’ve studied populations of students from preschool through college. Through the UCLA Psychology Department I teach courses in Psychology and Education (133F) and Developmental Research Methods (131). I also teach courses on John Wooden, an example of an extraordinary educator. One of those courses is offered through the Transformative Coaching and Leadership program within the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies.
Titles and Positions
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Adjunct Professor, UCLA
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Director of Operations, CourseKata
Education
- Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 1997
- M.A., California State University, Northridge, 1991
- B.A., University of California, Los Angeles, 1988
Honors, Awards, and Fellowships
- UCLA Honors College Eugen Weber Award for Distinguished Collegium Teaching (2021)
- UCLA Psychology Department Distinguished Teaching Award (2016)
Select Publications
- Shaw, S. T., McReynolds, A., Neer, E., Fang, T., & Givvin, K.B. (in press). An exploratory investigation of undergraduate students’ values and experiences with breaks, leisure, and rest. Journal of College Student Development.
- Givvin, K. B., & Gallimore, R. (2025). John Wooden advocated “repetition” but implemented “deliberate practice.” Quest, 1-19.
- Sutter, C.C., Jackson, M.C., Givvin, K.B., Stigler, J.W., & Son, J.Y. (2024). The “Better Book” approach to addressing equity in statistics: Centering the motivational experiences of students from racially marginalized backgrounds for widespread benefit. Education Sciences, 14(5), 487.
- Sutter, C. C., Givvin, K. B., Tucker, M., Givvin, K. A., Leandro-Ramos A., & Solomon, P. L. (2022). Student concerns and perceived challenges in introductory statistics, how the frequency shifted during COVID-19, and how they differ by subgroups of students, Journal of Statistics and Data Science Education, 31(2), 188-200.
- Fries, L. C., Son, J. Y., Givvin, K. B., & Stigler, J. W. (2020). Practicing connections: A framework to guide instructional design for developing understanding in complex domains. Educational Psychology Review.
- Stigler, J.W., Son, J.Y., Givvin, K.B., Blake, A., Fries, L., Shaw, S.T., & Tucker, M.C. (2020). The Better Book model for education research and development. Teachers College Record, 22, 1-32.
- Givvin, K.B., Moroz, V. Loftus, W., & Stigler, J.W. (2019). Removing opportunities to calculate improves students’ performance on subsequent word problems. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications. 4(1), 1-13.
- Givvin, K.B., Geller, E.H., & Stigler, J.W. (2019). How teachers introduce algebra and how it might affect students’ beliefs about what it means to “do” mathematics. In C. Kilhamn & R. Säljö (Ed.). First encounters with algebra: A comparative study of classrooms in four countries. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
- Givvin, K.B., Stigler, J.W., & Thompson, B.J. (2011). What community college developmental mathematics students understand about mathematics, Part II: The interviews, MathAMATYC Educator, 2(3), 4-18.
- Givvin, K.B., Hiebert, J., Jacobs, J.K., Hollingsworth, H., Gallimore, R. (2005). Are there national patterns of teaching? Evidence from the TIMSS 1999 Video Study. Comparative Education Review, 49(3), 311-343.