What Exactly is Productive Struggle?
YJ Arciaga was the one who asked me a question, “What exactly is productive struggle?” That question has inspired Dr. Laura and me to investigate not only what productive struggle looks like, but also what exactly it is in terms of the definition. Our conference proceeding paper from the PME-47 (Kamlue & Van Zoest, 2024) was a preliminary study investigating productive struggle definitions. I’m currently refining a manuscript to help reveal elements for defining productive struggle.
Productive Struggle in English Definition
Please stay tuned for my (tentative) dissertation defense, scheduled as a public presentation on Friday, February 20, 2026, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. (EST) / 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. (Thailand time), where I will present fundamental elements for defining productive struggle. In addition, our team will facilitate a discussion session at the 2026 AMTE Conference to gather your feedback on my proposed theoretical framework for defining this term.
Productive Struggle in Thai Definition
Dr. Sansanee Nenthien, my Thai advisor, and I’ve been working together for more than two years to help create a definition of mathematically productive struggle in the Thai language. We hope to publish our manuscript by 2026 to help support the communication among Thai mathematics teacher educators, researchers, and practitioners in Thailand.
What Does Mathematically Productive Struggle Look Like?
This question is a challenging one—our research team has been working to address it for more than five years. While our struggle continues, we are making steady progress. In my dissertation, I will propose an approach to tackle this type of research question, aiming to capture mathematically productive struggle through evidence mathematical struggle and evidence of mathematical progress.
Please stay tuned for my (tentative) dissertation defense, scheduled as a public presentation on Friday, February 20, 2026, from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. (EST) / 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. (Thailand time) to learn more about how I define the term mathematically productive struggle. It is noteworthy that I will present findings from my dissertation data through the lens of analyzing mathematical points of student contribution—a term I learned from the MOST research project team. My dissertation chair, Dr. Laura, generously shared her insights into the definition of a mathematical point of a student contribution in our 2025 PME-NA brief research report. Together with Dr. Imani Goffney, we are also planning to write a practitioner paper to introduce mathematical point analysis through both their work and my dissertation data set.
Productive Struggle Working Group
With the support of my advisor, Dr. Laura Van Zoest, Dr. Monica Anthony and I successfully established a working group at the 2024 PME-NA Conference, bringing together scholars from across the United States whose work investigating productive struggle (e.g., Dr. Hiroko Warshauer, Dr. Michael Jarry-Shore), as well as those who were new to the term and eager to learn more. At the upcoming 2025 PME-NA Conference, Dr. Monica Anthony and the Productive Struggle Working Group leaders will present their work on connecting productive struggle with a sense of belonging. I look forward to learning from their insights.
My goal to support this working group is to help bring others within and outside of the U.S. whose work relates to productive struggle, and for those who are interested, to tackle this term together to learn more from each other through a different cultural perspective lens to see the same construct. Please reach out to Monica (manthony5@ggc.edu) if you would like to join our monthly Productive Struggle Working Group meeting to learn more from each other’s work.
I would like to sincerely thank the leadership team members who have established the research group for Black Holes of Mathematics Education. Because Dr. Laura and I had a great opportunity to join their original team members in 2023, they inspired me to help form a team with Monica, with the encouragement from YJ Arciaga at the 2024 AMTE conference. Today, we’re ready to welcome more scholars and practitioners across the world to learn from one another—what exactly productive struggle is and how it matters in your work.
