Welcome to Nitchada’s Website
—the hub where I share what inspires me to become a better mathematics teacher educator every single day. I hope you enjoy exploring the site and consider joining our community—a place where we support one another in bringing research into practice and in using practice to inform research.
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
Nelson Mandela
.:: Upcoming Events & Presentations ::.
Who Benefits From Optimizing Mathematically Productive Struggle? Initial Insights From Prospective Elementary Teachers’ Mathematical Justifications
July 27 to August 1, 2026, Helsinki, Finland
This exploratory qualitative study used 26 prospective elementary teachers’ (PTs’) mathematical justifications before and after they participated in a whole-class discussion of a high-leverage PT contribution to provide insight into who benefits from optimizing mathematically productive struggle. We used their own words to code and analyzed the 52 written responses, and identified five types of understanding: Robust, Substantial, Emerging, Preliminary, and No Evidence. We learned that, regardless of the PTs’ initial type of understanding and whether they expressed struggle, 85% demonstrated progress after the discussion, and 69% evidenced an increase in their type of understanding. We conclude that optimizing productive struggle may be a particularly productive approach for developing PTs’ flexible thinking.
.:: What Exactly is Productive Struggle? ::.
– Presented by Nitchada Kamlue (June 27, 2024) –
.:: Disney World in Teachers’ Perspectives ::.
– Created by Nitchada Kamlue (October 26, 2019) –
.:: Trigonometry and Stories Behind It ::.
– Created by Nitchada Kamlue (April 29, 2019) –
Note. When I said “cos,” I meant “cosine.” In Thailand, we typically say “cos” because that’s how it’s taught in trigonometry classes. However, I’ve realized that in the US (and possibly other countries), it’s not common to refer to “cosine” as just “cos” in conversation. 🙂 As you’ll see in the video, I still struggled to say “cosine” instead of “cos” — I definitely need more practice!
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