Sian Zelbo, J.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Teaching, Program in Mathematics
Teachers College, Columbia University
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Research on the Historical Discourse Between Mathematics and Society
sez2105@tc.columbia.edu
My research
My research
I am a mathematics education researcher specializing in the historical development of mathematics education and focusing, in particular, on how mathematical ideas and pedagogical approaches move through different cultural contexts and into the public sphere. My research examines the factors that facilitate or impede this movement, from nineteenth-century French mathematical influences in American education to the public debate surrounding the "New Math" movement of the 1960s-70s. I investigate how mathematical knowledge and teaching practices are transformed as they cross cultural, institutional, and social boundaries. This historical perspective provides crucial insights into current debates about mathematics education reform and helps us understand why some educational innovations take root while others fail to gain traction.
Browse below to see my areas of research, past and present. Links below take you to documents and data.
E.J. Edmunds (1851-1889)
E.J. Edmunds (1851-1889)
Edmunds was a New Orleans-born graduate of the École Polytechnique in Paris, a cultural ambassador of French mathematics, and prominent figure in the Reconstruction-era civil rights movement
Artemas Martin (1835-1918)
Artemas Martin (1835-1918)
Artemas Martin was an amateur mathematician who, among other things, founded an educational journal called the Mathematical Visitor. Martin's journal reached people with talent and interest in mathematics all over the country at a time when the country's universities were not equipped for that task.
19th century puzzle columns
19th Century newspapers published mathematics problems and invited readers to submit solutions. Columns in Sunny South and the Delaware Gazette reflect different views of mathematics that were percolating in American culture at the time and offer a window into the mathematical understanding of ordinary Americans.
Early 20th century popularization of line graphs
The early 20th century saw a tension between educational reformers who wanted to democratize line graphs and cultural assumptions that line graphs were only for those with specialized knowledge.
19th century West Point
19th century West Point
West Point is important to the history of mathematics education in the United States. Modeled in part after the École Polytechnique in Paris, it exerted an outsized influence on both pre-college and college mathematics education. This research explores French influences on West Point and the cultural obstacles that made the influence incomplete. It also explores West Point's influence on America's early engineering profession, which was limited because of cultural resistance to the professionalization of engineers at a time when many were trained though apprenticeships.
The New Math in popular culture
The New Math in popular culture
The New Math was an educational reform movement born from the needs of the Cold War, whose aims were to better prepare students to do college-level mathematics. The term "New Math" entered the broad public consciousness in the mid-1960s, and serves as a fascinating case study of the public's perception of mathematics education.
Mathematical giftedness and popular culture
Mathematical giftedness and popular culture
In 1979, James Gallagher, a pioneer in special education and gifted education, observed that “America has traditionally had a love-hate relationship with giftedness and talent.” This essay explores this enduring tension by focusing on a pivotal period—1964 to 1980—when public discourse on gifted education underwent a transformation and giftedness was gradually reconceptualized as a private asset demanding individual cultivation.
Public Speaking and Outreach
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
"Urbanization as a catalyst of fraction understanding," 48th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education, Santiago, Chile, August 2025.
"Public debate and the ascent and decline of the American 'New Math' reform movement (1960 to 1980)" 8th Conference on the History of Mathematics Education Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland, September 2024
"A Re-examination of the Nineteenth Century French Influence on American Mathematics Education through Textbook Author Charles Davies" 7th Conference on the History of Mathematics Education Mainz, Germany, September 2022
"Building an American mathematics community from the ground up: Artemas Martin and the Mathematical Visitor (1877-1887)" 14th Congress on Mathematics Education (Virtual) Singapore, July 2021
"A Cross-Cultural Case study of an African American Mathematics Teacher Who Studied at the École Polytechnique" 6th Conference on the History of Mathematics Education CIRM, Marseilles, France, September 2019
INVITED ACADEMIC TALKS
"Edgar J. Edmunds: The Mathematics Teacher Who Challenged the White Supremacist Movement in Post-Civil War New Orleans" Christmas Meeting and AGM, British Society for the History of Mathematics (Online) December 2024
"Mathematics Teacher Preparation at Teachers College, Columbia University: A Practice-Based Approach to Developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge" Scientific Seminar, International Association of Researchers in Mathematics Didactics Mykhailo Dragomanov University, Ukraine (Virtual) December 2024
"Edgar J. Edmunds: A Historical Case Study of Race in Mathematics Education" JRME Talks Series, Journal of Research in Mathematics Education (Virtual) November 2022
"A Re-examination of the Nineteenth Century French Influence on American Mathematics Education through Textbook Author Charles Davies" Pohle Colloquium Series, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY October 2022
PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT & EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
"A Potpourri of Puzzles" Family Fridays Series, Museum of Mathematics New York, NY, November 2021
"Puzzles and Communicating Maths" Panel Discussion, Talking Maths in Public Conference (Virtual) Edinburgh, Scotland, August 2021
"Fraction Dominoes: A Workshop in Puzzle Creation" Math Buffet Series Workshop, Julia Robinson Mathematics Festival (Virtual) March 2021
Questions?
Questions?
Contact sianzelbomath@gmail.com to get more information on her research.
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