The body in mathematics: Theoretical and methodological lenses (2018-2021)
Book project with Prof Laurie Edwards (St. Mary’s College of California), aiming at explicating and comparing different methodological approaches and perspective in the context of embodiment and multimodality in the learning of mathematics.
Signs of Mathematics: Fostering the Emergence of Conceptual Gesture Among Deaf Student“ (SignEd|Math) (2019-2022)
Principal investigator; together with the local collaborators and advisors Prof Dor Abrahamson (UC Berkeley, California) and Prof. Dr. Florian Schacht (University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany) (funded in the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme): Embedded in my larger research program DeafMath, this project follows a design-based-research approach against the background of theories of embodied cognition; Objectives of the project are (i) Designing a learning environment building on deaf learners’ strengths and aligned to their needs, (ii) gaining deeper insights into learning mathematics within an embodied perspective through analysing the learners’ interaction with the learning material and with each other, and (iii) reflecting on the design approach and developing it further.
Gestures‘ role in translanguaging and transsemiotizing in mathematical discourse of bilingual learners (2020 - ongoing)
An exploration of the role of gestures in bilingual mathematical discourse, with a focus on their functions in code-switching and translanguaging in contexts of teaching and learning and the conceptualization of mathematical ideas. Initiated with Dr. Danyal Farsani (Chile/UK), open to other colleagues interested in bilingual mathematical settings.
SpEED – Special Education Embodied Design (2019 - ongoing)
Joint project that aims at investigating the potential of Embodied Design for Learning across different special education populations. In collaboration with Sofia Tancredi and Rachel Chen (PhD students in the joint doctoral program of San Francisco State University and UC Berkeley): The project is a collaboration in which we compare and contrast the rationales, designs, rationales, and results of different design-based-research projects that all emphasize embodiment perspective on teaching learning to make learning accessible and epistemologically accessible for populations that interact with the world differently. While the SpEED group is potentially open to all scholars that share the common commitment to studying the implications of embodied cognition for learners in special education, the project currently contains of four projects with four different populations (students on the autism spectrum, Deaf students, students that are blind and visually-impaired, and students with high sensory regulation needs) and a strong focus on mathematics.
Find here a presentation on 'The Need for SpEED: Reimagining Accessibility Through Special Education Embodied Design' , held at the SESAME colloquium at the Graduate School of Education a UC Berkeley in November 2020.
Cognitive functions of gestures in the context of mathematics (2018 - ongoing)
Research collaboration with Jun.-Prof. Alexander Salle (Osnabrück University, Germany). In this collaboration, we adapt a model for self-directed functions of gestures for thinking and speaking—developed in the intersection of educational psychology and psycholinguistics — for an exploration of cognitive functions in mathematical thinking and learning.
DeafMath: The mathematics of Deaf and hard-of-hearing learners – Barriers and chances (2016 -ongoing)
Principal investigator. This research program investigates opportunities and difficulties of exploring and developing a mathematics education for Deaf and hard-of-hearing students, with a special focus on the use of sign language for learning mathematics. In particular, it seeks to contribute to answering the following three questions:
(1) How can we align educational methods and material to better serve Deaf learners?
(2) How does the use of a “language of the hands“ influence the mathematical learning process and learning product?
(3) What can we learn from this special group of learners about mathematical thinking and learning more in general?