My scholarship aims to construct a broader and multiple views of mathematics and mathematical learning, for which I draw on interdisciplinary fields of learning sciences, sociocultural anthropology, and history and philosophy of mathematics. Using micro-ethnographic and design-based research approaches, my work centers on the design and analysis of mathematical thinking and epistemic practices in collaborative settings and its entanglement with the structural power and sociocultural dimensions of how people learn. Student engagement, agency, and inquiry; Design of mathematics learning environments, and Epistemological diversity and justice are some constructs and concepts that tie my work together.
I am currently admitting graduate students to work on the below projects with me. I would love to chat with potential doctoral students about their research interests. Please reach out to me via email at pagarwal39@wisc.edu or twitter @priyanka_agarw.
(1) Investigating the nature of spontaneaous mathematical thinking and practices in the collective actions of social change agents and community organizers.
(2) Design and analysis of learning environments that integrate mathematics learning with social studies as a way to engage secondary school students in examining controversial social issues using mathematics.
(3) Design and analysis of collaborative mathematical problem-posing and inquiry-driven communities of practice in secondary schools
Select Publications
- Van Es, A. E., Hand, V., Agarwal, P., & Sandoval, C. (2022). Multidimensional noticing for equity: Theorizing mathematics teachers' systems of noticing to disrupt inequalities. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 53(2), 114-132.
- Domina, T., McEachin, A., Hanselman, P., Agarwal, P., Hwang, N., & Lewis, R. (2019). Beyond tracking and detracking: The dimensions of organizational differentiation in schools. Sociology of Education Online Publication/Abstract.
- Agarwal, P., & Sengupta-Irving, T. (2019). Integrating power to advance the study of connective and productive disciplinary engagements in Mathematics and Science. Cognition and Instruction, 37(3), 349-366.
- Sengupta-Irving, T., & Agarwal, P. (2017). Conceptualizing perseverance in problem solving as collective enterprise. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 19(2), 115-138. Online Publication/Abstract.
- Domina, T., Lewis, R., Agarwal, P., & Hanselman, P. (2015). Professional sense-makers: Instructional specialists in contemporary schooling. Educational Researcher, 44(6), 359-364. Online Publication/Abstract.