YING ZHANG

proceedings

Zhang, Y. (2024). How does mathematical creativity in algebra change across secondary under student-centered and teacher-centered pedagogy?  Proceedings of the 47th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME47) (Vol. X, pp. Xxx-xxx). Auckland. New Zealand. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.115889  

Zhang, Y., & Stylianides, A. J. (2024). Exploring the role of pedagogy in mathematical creative self-efficacy: A comparative study of two schools in China. In, Proceedings of the 15th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME15). Sydney, Australia. 

Zhang, Y. (2024). Does student-centered pedagogy really foster mathematical problem solving compared to teacher-centered pedagogy? In, Proceedings of the 15th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME15). Sydney, Australia.

Zhang, Y., & Stylianides, A. J. (2023). A comparative case study of the mathematics pedagogy in two Chinese schools: How “student-centered” is a proclaimed reformed pedagogy? In P. Drijvers, C. Csapodi, H. Palmér, K. Gosztonyi, & E. Kónya (Eds.), Proceedings of the Thirteenth Congress of the European Research in Mathematics Education (CERME13) (pp. 3666-3673). Budapest, Hungary.  

Zhang, Y. (2023). Exploring the role of pedagogy in Mathematical creativity via multiple-solution tasks: A comparative study of two schools in China. In M. Ayalon, B. Koichu, R. Leikin, L. Rubel., & M. Tabach (Eds.), Proceedings of the 46th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME46) (Vol. 4, pp.379-386). Haifa, Israel. 

Zhang, Y. (2022). Chinese teachers' views on the difficulties of implemeting problem-based learning in Chinese matheamtics classrooms. Proceedings of the 45th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME45) (Vol. 4, pp. 324). Alicante, Spain. 

Zhang, Y. (2022). Chinese teachers’ views on implementing problem-based learning in the Chinese mathematics classroom. Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics, 41(3).

journal articles

Zhang, Y., & Stylianides, A. J. (under review). Trajectories of Mathematical Creative Self-efficacy under Student-centered and Teacher-centered Pedagogy in Secondary Mathematics. TS&C. 

Zhang, Y., & Star, J., (under review). Exploring the long-term effectiveness of student-centered pedagogy on mathematics performance and confidence. 
Zhang, Y. (2024). Editorial: A New Decade of CERJ. Cambridge Educational Research e-Journal, 11, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.114524

Pedagogy & Creativity

the research field

I am interested in human interaction in all my research. Mathematics education as a research field is an important context of human interaction. In addition to my service in the field, I have also published some commentary on the field.

Mathematics Education in Times of Crisis: The climate crisis is one that the field of mathematics education (and any other field of research) needs to address strongly. I was invited to be a plenary panelist at the conference of the International Group of the Psychology of Mathematics Education, in Haifa, Israel in July 2023, with co-panelists Patricio Herbst, Gabriele Kaiser, and Despina Potari, chaired by Rina Zazkis. Here is the text of my ten minute opening remarks: "An argument for mathematics education papers to address global sustainability".

The coronavirus pandemic had very significant impacts on education. I was invited to be on the closing plenary panel of the 2021 International Congress on Mathematical Education with co-panelists Timothy Gowers, Jean Lubuma and Nelly Léon, and co-chairs Michèle Artigue and Ingrid Daubechies. We discussed the challenges, responsibilities and roles for mathematicians and mathematics education researchers in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Here is a video of my opening remarks (I am hoping that we can share the whole panel discussion sometime. ICME leadership is working on the permissions):

Demographics of researchers in the field: In 2021, I was invited to give a plenary address at the international conference of the Psychology of Mathematics Education. I chose to talk about the different ways mathematics education researchers act as gatekeepers in society. Here is a text version of my talk as published in teh conference proceedings: Gatekeeping in mathematics education

I have also worked recently with Vilma Mesa to reflect on 50 years of the journal Educational Studies in Mathematics. We interviewd the living editors of the journal and analyzed demographics of contributors to illuminate the way review and editorial practices can influence the research field: Behind the door

Socio-political research in the field: Upon the invitation of the editors of the Fourth International Handbook of Mathematics Education, I have been working with Carolina Tamayo on the opening chapter of the handbook section on "Trends in Equity and Social Justice". Our chapter will be titled "Invisibilization and Intersectionality in Mathematics Education: A Panoramic View / Invisibilização e Interseccionalidade na Educação Matemática: Uma visão panorâmica."

In an invited contribution to the Third International Handbook of Mathematics Education(Jablonka, Wagner & Walshaw, 2012), my colleagues and I investigated how our field uses theory from a variety of traditions ranging from sociology, linguistics, and others. This is a challenge for education research, because we draw on theory and tools that are not designed for the same research orientations and questions that many of us bring to education research. Thus, along with Beth Herbel-Eisenmann, I have worked at developing theory for our field. In particular, we have tried to bring clarity to the concept of positioning, which is used widely in the field, but too often haphazardly (Wagner & Herbel-Eisenmann, 2009). More recently, we have elaborated on this along with some of her graduate students (Herbel-Eisenmann, Wagner, Johnson, Suh, & Figueras, 2015).

Scholars in our field often accept consultant roles in international projects. I reflected on some of my international work in mathematics education in a 2012 article (Wagner, 2012). In a collaboration with Kwesi Yaro and Emmanuel Amoah, we reflected on the way colonialism infiltrates work with communities seeking to improve their matheamatics (Yaro et al., 2020).

The roles and actions of researchers in the field: I have also reflected on the way authority and positioning operate within the field and how this relates to authority in mathematics learning, as my contribution in a Festschrift (a collection of celebratory writing) (Wagner, 2015). Here is my video that was played at the release of the book:

Indigenous contexts

Following the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings in Canada and calls for action published in 2015, there is new interest and accountability amongst Canadian settler (non-Indigenous) mathematics teachers to develop proactive and responsive pedagogies for Indigenous and settler students. Similar dynamics are at play in other countries. Canada's granting council for social science and humanities research (SSHRC) recently awarded a grant that will enable me and colleagues from New Brunswick, Norway, Sweden and the USA to do participatory research that will document experiences of Indigenous and recently migrated students and develop pedagogies that make better experiences possible for these students (and others). I am also working with some of these colleagues on similar research in Norway, including participatory action with Sámi and Kven communities in Northern Scandinavia: Mathematics Education in Indigenous and Migrational contexts: Storylines, Cultures and Strength-based Pedagogies, supported by Norway's granting council, FINNUT.

Well before the TRC commission’s work in Canada, Mi'kmaq and Wolastoqiyik communities have been aware of the many issues that require or may benefit from mathematical knowledge. For example, they need to balance sustainable economies with management of natural resources, they face ongoing negotiations surrounding treaties and land claims, and they are confronting population increase with insufficient infrastructure. Mathematical and scientific knowledge is important in all these endeavours, but most Indigenous youth are not choosing to pursue studies in mathematics and the sciences.

While the reasons for these choices are varied, one cannot overlook the apparent disconnect between Indigenous knowledge and the Western world view of mathematics and science, which students are exposed to in our school systems. For centuries, Indigenous people have addressed problems that have similarities to the problems addressed by academic mathematics and science. This historical connection ought not to be ignored.

Starting in 2004, I have been working with Dr. Lisa Lunney Borden, to bring together community elders, adults, and youth in conversations about the role of mathematical processes within local cultures in Indigenous communities. In our conversations, we have considered ways to engage more the youth in the study of mathematics. The key questions have been: "What mathematics is already present in Indigenous culture?" (this kind of research is called ethnomathematics) and "How can this Indigenous knowledge be incorporated into the learning and teaching of mathematics so as to better meet the needs of Indigenous students?" An example of the insights gleaned in our conversation with elders can be found in this book chapter: Wagner & Lunney Borden, 2015.

Out of these conversations emerged the Show Me Your Math (SMYM) event. Since 2006, it has drawn the participation of over a thousand Mi'kmaw and Wolastoqiyik children who showed others the mathematics practised in their communities. These children, from kindergarten to Grade 12 have participated from communities in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador. See http://showmeyourmath.cafor more details. Here is the video prompt we developed with community leaders:

Dr. Lunney Borden and I have published a number of book chapters relating to the Show Me Your Math event, including:

• a consideration of the qualities of relationship necessary for the development of quality mathematics (Lunney Borden & Wagner, 2011)
• a discussion about developing research methodologies that respect Indigenous communities (Lunney Borden & Wagner, 2012)
• an investigation of our relationships in the research (Wagner & Lunney Borden, 2012)

The most straightforward overviews of the Show Me Your Math program can be found in an article we wrote for the Canadian Math Society newsletter (Lunney Borden and Wagner, 2011) and a book chapter we published with the principal of the Allison Bernard Memorial High School in Eskasoni, Newell Johnson (Lunney Borden, Wagner & Johnson, 2020). Here is an example of a prominent news agency reporting on SMYM: from CTV news in 2013.

Math courses

I completed the following courses during undergraduate studies:
- Real Analysis
- Abstract Algebra
- Complex Variables
- Group Theory
- Number Theory
- Ordinary Differential Equation
- Linear Algebra
- Math History
- Statistics
- Python

games

• The January Game
• Free Trade
• Division Game

Math Software

- Geogebra
- Classin
- Capcut

Mathematics Teaching

Grade 7

My Teaching Sample on Optimization of Absolute Value Sum

My Teaching Sample on Dynamic Point on the Number Line

Grade 8

My Teaching Sample on Pythagorean Theorem & half-angle model

My Teaching Sample on The Proof of Pythagorean Theorem

Grade 9

My Teaching Sample on The Tangent Line Theorem of Circles

My Teaching Sample on Perpendicularity Theorem of Quadratic Functions

Grade 10

My Teaching Sample on Geometric Interpretation of Dot Product

My Teaching Sample on Extreme Values of Trigonometric Functions

University

My Teaching Sample on Prove Derivation