Shaista Kanwal

• Nedaei, Mahboubeh; Kanwal, Shaista; Säljö, Roger & Goodchild, Simon (2026). The Role of Complexity of Representations in Engineering Students’ Engagement With a Mathematical Content: A Case Study of Eye-Tracking. International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. ISSN 2198-9745. doi: 10.1007/s40753-026-00308-7. Full text in Research Archive
• Kanwal, Shaista & Berget, Ingeborg Lid (2025). Mathematical modelling in Norwegian schools - A study of teachers’ conceptions and practices, and views on potentials and challenges. NOMAD – Nordisk matematikkdidaktikk. ISSN 1104-2176. 30(4), p. 94–116. doi: https:/tidsskrift.dk/NOMAD/article/view/163674/205609. Full text in Research Archive
• Nedaei, Mahboubeh; Säljö, Roger; Kanwal, Shaista & Goodchild, Simon (2025). Eye-Tracking Data in the Exploration of Students’ Engagement with Representations in Mathematics: Areas of Interest (AOIs) as Methodological and Conceptual Challenges. Journal of Eye Movement Research. 18(6). doi: 10.3390/jemr18060065. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In mathematics, and in learning mathematics, representations (texts, formulae, and figures) play a vital role. Eye-tracking is a promising approach for studying how representations are attended to in the context of mathematics learning. The focus of the research reported here is on the methodological and conceptual challenges that arise when analysing students’ engagement with different kinds of representations using such data. The study critically examines some of these issues through a case study of three engineering students engaging with an instructional document introducing double integrals. This study reports that not only the characteristics of different types of representations affect students’ engagement with areas of interests (AOIs), but also methodological decisions, such as how AOIs are defined, will be consequential for interpretations of that engagement. This shows that both technical parameters and the inherent nature of the representations themselves must be considered when defining AOIs and analysing students’ engagement with representations. The findings offer practical considerations for designing and analysing eye-tracking studies when students’ engagement with different representations is in focus.

• Kanwal, Shaista & Reinhardtsen, Jorunn (2025). “But like all models, it has its limitations”— Pre-service teachers’ evaluation of validity of mathematical models. In Skott, Charlotte Krog; Blomhøj, Morten; Eckert, Andreas; Elicer, Raimundo; Herheim, Rune; Kristinsdóttir, Bjarnheiður; Larsen, Dorte Moeskær; Nortvedt, Guri A.; Nyström, Peter; Sigurjónsson, Jóhann Örn & Tamborg, Andreas Lindenskov (Ed.), Interplay between research and teaching practice in mathematics education : Proceedings of NORMA24, The tenth Nordic Conference on Mathematics Education, Copenhagen, 2024. Svensk förening för MatematikDidaktisk Forskning - SMDF. ISSN 9789198402483. p. 217–224. Full text in Research Archive
• Torkildsen, Hermund André; Forbregd, Tore Alexander; Reid, David Alexander & Kanwal, Shaista (2025). Norwegian Mathematics Teacher Educators’ and Research Mathematicians’ Views on Different Aspects of Mathematical Definitions: a Comparative Judgement Study. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. ISSN 1571-0068. 23, p. 2157–2180. doi: 10.1007/s10763-024-10534-7. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this article we investigate the extent to which characteristics used to describe mathematical definitions in mathematics education research literature reflect what is important to research mathematicians and mathematics teacher educators. We report results from a comparative judgement survey of 57 research mathematicians and 62 mathematics teacher educators. Our results indicate that the two groups are mostly in agreement about the rankings, however, there are some differences. Research mathematicians rank most highly characteristics related to non-ambiguity and non-contradiction, while mathematics teacher educators rank characteristics related to comprehension and referential clarity as highly as characteristics related to non-ambiguity and non-contradiction. Neither group ranked minimality highly, even though this is the characteristic most often listed in the mathematics education research literature. Our study contributes towards a more consistent characterization of mathematical definitions in mathematics education research.

• Fredriksen, Helge Ingvart; Goodchild, Simon; Hogstad, Ninni Marie; Kanwal, Shaista; Landgärds, Ida Maria & Liakos, Yannis [Show all 8 contributors for this article] (2022). Early Developments in Doctoral Research in Norwegian Undergraduate Mathematics Education. In Biehler, Rolf; Liebendörfer, Michael; Gueudet, Ghislaine; Rasmussen, Chris & Winsløw, Carl (Ed.), Practice-Oriented Research in Tertiary Mathematics Education. Springer Nature. ISSN 9783031141744. p. 715–736. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-14175-1_34. Full text in Research Archive
• Kanwal, Shaista (2022). Developing an analytical model for mathematical reasoning. In Hodgen, Jeremy; Geraniou, Eirini; Bolondi, Giorgio; Feretti, Federica & Ferretti, Federica (Ed.), Proceedings of the 12th Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME12). European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. ISSN 9791221025378. Full text in Research Archive
• Kanwal, Shaista (2019). Exploring affordances of an online environment: a case-Study of electronics engineering undergraduate students’ activity in mathematics. International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. ISSN 2198-9745. 6. doi: 10.1007/s40753-019-00100-w. Full text in Research Archive
• Kanwal, Shaista (2018). Engineering students’ engagement with resources in an online learning environment. International Network for Didactic Research in University Mathematics : INDRUM. Full text in Research Archive

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• Berget, Ingeborg Katrin Lid & Kanwal, Shaista (2025). Analysing teachers' examples of modelling activities. Full text in Research Archive
• Kanwal, Shaista & Reinhardtsen, Jorunn (2024). “But like all models, it has its limitations”— Pre-service teachers’ evaluation of validity of mathematical models. Full text in Research Archive
• Kanwal, Shaista (2018). Engineering students’ engagement with resources in an online learning environment. In V. Durand-Guerrier, R. Hochmuth, S. Goodchild and N. M. Hogstad (Eds.), Proceedings of Second conference of the International Network for Didactic Research in University Mathematics (INDRUM) (pp.145 – 154). Full text in Research Archive
• Kanwal, Shaista (2018). Mathematical Competencies and E-Learning: A Case Study of Engineering Students’ Use of Digital Resources. Full text in Research Archive
• Kanwal, Shaista (2017). The impact of tutorial videos on undergraduate students’ mathematical learning. Full text in Research Archive
• Kanwal, Shaista (2017). Learning Mathematics in a digital environment. Full text in Research Archive
• Kanwal, Shaista (2020). Dynamics of undergraduate engineering students’ learning activities in mathematics in an online and in a blended environment. Universitetet i Agder. ISSN 9788271179939. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This thesis reports from a research study which investigates the role of technology rich environments in undergraduate engineering students’ processes of learning mathematics. The research is founded within a naturalistic research paradigm (Lincoln, 2007) and adopts a case study design (Yin, 2014). The two cases under consideration comprise a small group of undergraduate electronics engineering students, selected as participants, from an online and a blended learning environment (Borba et al., 2016). The first case study of online environment incorporates an online system, MyMathLab, for homework and assessment, and tutorial videos for the lectures in a calculus course. The second case study of blended environment involves group work using paper and pencil and face-to-face lectures instead of tutorial videos in the subsequent course for the same class. The incorporation of digital systems in mathematics, particularly with regard to students’ interactions, has not been researched enough (Borba et al., 2016). Qualitative approaches were adopted to collect and analyse the data, and empirical material was collected through multiple methods including student observations, interviews, field notes, and students’ weekly reports. The aim of the thesis is to analyse students’ interactions with these environments and to get insights into the factors which play a role in students’ engagement with mathematics. In doing so, the study explores dynamics that underlie students’ learning activities including students’ interactions with available resources, and macro and micro conditions of the learning environment. Cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) was used as an overarching theoretical framework for conceptualising students’ learning activities and for analysing the data.

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