23. - 27.11.2026
Alexandra Dannenberg
Situational demands on verbal expressions in primary school mathematics classrooms
What role does language play in learning mathematics? This question has long been the subject of research in mathematics education, with primary schools gaining increasing attention as a field of research. Against this background, my dissertation project takes a praxeological perspective to examine the situational relevance of language in classroom interactions during mathematics lessons. Using an ethnographic research design and drawing on my interests in multilingualism and the construction of social difference, I conducted participant observation in mathematics lessons at three German and two Danish primary schools. I analyze the resulting field notes using methods from Grounded Theory, in particular sequence analysis. My focus of attention is on the situational demands placed on participants’ linguistic expressions in classroom interactions. I aim to identify how these demands manifest themselves in mathematics lessons, how they are negotiated and fulfilled, and how they relate to the mathematical subject matter. Combining considerations from mathematics education and educational sciences, I finally explore the question of how these language-related practices in mathematics lessons produce differences and commonality between the participants.
Studies and degrees
2022 – 03/2025: Doctoral researcher in the DFG Graduate School “Subject-Specific Learning and Interaction in Elementary School” (INTERFACH)
2021 – 2022: 1st semester of the M.A. in Empirical Educational Research at the University of Kassel
2017 – 2021: Studies in elementary school teaching (Mathematics, German, General Studies/Sachunterricht) at the University of Kassel. Degree: First State Examination. Thesis: “On the Development of the Influence of Migration Background on German Grades at the Open School Waldau. An Empirical Study.”
2013 – 2017: B.Sc. in Biological Diversity and Ecology at the University of Göttingen
Professional experience
since 04/2025: Research associate at the Department of Education, Primary School Pedagogy, University of Kassel
2022 – 03/2025: Doctoral researcher in the DFG Graduate School “Subject-Specific Learning and Interaction in Elementary School” (INTERFACH)
2020 – 2022: Student research assistant at the Scientific Center for Information Technology Design (ITeG), in the projects AnEkA, Nudger and data protection-compliant video conferencing systems for schools in Hesse
2019 – 2022: Tutor at the Institute of Mathematics for the courses Arithmetic & Geometry I and II
2019 – 2021: Student research assistant at the Institute of Mathematics in the PRONET project
2018 – 2020: Student research assistant at the Center for Teacher Education in the project “Psychosocial Basic Competences for the Teaching Profession”
Awards
2023: Awarded the EERA ERC’s Best Paper Award for the paper „Categorizing Math Problems as ‘Easy’ and ‘Difficult’ – An Elementary School Mathematics Teacher’s Interaction with a Newly Arrived Student Analyzed in Two Steps“
2023: EERA ERC’s Best Paper Award for the Paper Categorizing Math Problems as ‚Easy‘ and ‚Difficult‘ – An Elementary School Mathematics Teacher’s Interaction with a Newly Arrived Student Analyzed in Two Steps