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Dr Jana Visnovska

Senior Lecturer

School of Education
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
j.visnovska@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 56465

Overview

I am a senior lecturer in mathematics education at the University of Queensland. My research centres around design and theorising of resources for teaching mathematics well. This includes development of classroom mathematical activities, in which students encounter significant mathematical ideas and joy of the experience; support of mathematics teachers’ work so that they can organise their classrooms for their students' meaningful engagement with mathematics; and inquiries into history of mathematics and education aimed at understanding of how we got where we currently are. I have served as an editor of the Australian Mathematics Education Journal and currently serve on the international programme committee for the International Symposium on Elementary Mathematics Teaching.

I completed a Magister degree in mathematics at Comenius University in Slovakia and a PhD in mathematics education at Vanderbilt University in the USA. I have taught middle-years mathematics for 3 years and lectured in mathematics and mathematics education at Comenius, Vanderbilt, and University of California, Santa Cruz. As part of my research, I regularly spend time in schools and classrooms.

Research Interests

  • Mathematics Education
  • Design Research
  • Teacher Professional Development

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Vanderbilt University

Publications

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Grants

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Supervision

View all Supervision

Available Projects

  • Fractions and proportional reasoning across the years of schooling

    Big part of my research includes exploring, understanding, and developing teaching resources that would aid teachers in making it possible for all students to thrive in mathematics classrooms. Typical resources used for initial teaching of fractions often support students' "performance" in the short run, but later undermine their efforts of making sense of proportionality. In this project, you will explore the types of difficulties students face and how these difficulties relate to the resources used in their teaching, and propose and trial alternative pathways for teaching fractions and proportionality in mathematics classrooms.

  • Theorising and design of (mathematics) teachers' resources

    Teaching resources (textbooks and their alternatives) reveal how we, as a society, and as researchers and designers, conceptualise teaching. On the one hand, resources can dictate to the teacher what is to be done. On the orther hand, they can collaborate with the teacher on figuring out how to best respond to different situations that arise in different classrooms. To produce resources that would be most useful to teachers in their diverse classrooms, researchers and designers must deal well with and rigorously theorise the complexity of education and teaching. How should we conceptualise teaching and how can we bring a particular conceptualisation of a teacher and teaching into resource design?

View all Available Projects

Publications

Featured Publications

Book

Book Chapter

  • Resource Design for Re-Sourcing Teaching

    Višňovská, Jana, Cortina, José Luis and Eckert, Andreas (2023). Resource Design for Re-Sourcing Teaching. Handbook of Digital Resources in Mathematics Education. (pp. 1-25) Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-95060-6_39-1

  • Looking back and taking stock: reflections on the MERGA Research Review 2012–2015

    Makar, Katie, Dole, Shelley, Visnovska, Jana, Goos, Merrilyn, Bennison, Anne and Fry, Kym (2020). Looking back and taking stock: reflections on the MERGA Research Review 2012–2015. Research in mathematics education in Australasia 2016–2019. (pp. 7-26) edited by Jennifer Way, Catherine Attard, Judy Anderson, Janette Bobis, Heather McMaster and Katherin Cartwright. Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-15-4269-5_2

  • Documentation work, design capacity, and teachers’ expertise in designing instruction

    Rezat, Sebastian, Le Hénaff, Carole, Visnovska, Jana, Kim, Ok-Kyeong, Leroyer, Laurence, Sabra, Hussein, El Hage, Suzane and Wang, Chongyang (2019). Documentation work, design capacity, and teachers’ expertise in designing instruction. The 'resource' approach to mathematics education. (pp. 323-388) edited by Luc Trouche , Ghislaine Gueudet and Birgit Pepin. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-20393-1_11

  • Present research on mathematics textbooks and teachers’ resources in ICME-13: conclusion and perspectives

    Rezat, Sebastian, Visnovska, Jana, Trouche, Luc, Qi, Chunxia and Fan, Lianghuo (2018). Present research on mathematics textbooks and teachers’ resources in ICME-13: conclusion and perspectives. Research on mathematics textbooks and teachers’ resources: advances and issues. (pp. 343-358) edited by Lianghuo Fan, Luc Trouche, Chunxia Qi, Sebastian Rezat and Jana Visnovska. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-73253-4_16

  • Resourcing teachers in transition to plan for interactions with students’ ideas

    Visnovska, Jana and Cortina, Jose Luis (2018). Resourcing teachers in transition to plan for interactions with students’ ideas. Research on mathematics textbooks and teachers’ resources: advances and issues. (pp. 277-295) edited by Lianghuo Fan, Luc Trouche, Chunxia Qi, Sebastian Rezat and Jana Visnovska. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-73253-4_13

  • Topic Study Group No. 38: research on resources (textbooks, learning materials etc.)

    Fan, Lianghuo, Trouche, Luc, Qi, Chunxia, Rezat, Sebastian and Visnovska, Jana (2017). Topic Study Group No. 38: research on resources (textbooks, learning materials etc.). Proceedings of the 13th International Congress on Mathematical Education: ICME-13. (pp. 561-564) edited by Gabriele Kaiser. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-62597-3_65

  • Introduction: Research in Mathematics Education in Australasia 2012–2015

    Makar, Katie, Dole, Shelley, Visnovska, Jana, Goos, Merrilyn, Bennison, Anne and Fry, Kym (2016). Introduction: Research in Mathematics Education in Australasia 2012–2015. Research in Mathematics Education in Australasia 2012-2015. (pp. 1-12) edited by Katie Makar, Shelley Dole, Jana Visnovska, Merrilyn Goos, Anne Bennison and Kym Fry. City of Singapore, Singapore: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-1419-2_1

  • Developing statistical numeracy: the model must make sense

    Lamb, Janeen and Visnovska, Jana (2015). Developing statistical numeracy: the model must make sense. Mathematical modelling in education research and practice: cultural, social and cognitive influences. (pp. 363-373) edited by Gloria Ann Stillman, Werner Blum and Maria Salett Biembengut. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-18272-8_30

  • On comparing mathematical models and pedagogical learning

    Lamb, Janeen and Visnovska, Jana (2013). On comparing mathematical models and pedagogical learning. Teaching mathematical modelling: connecting to research and practice. (pp. 457-466) edited by Gloria Ann Stillman, Gabriele Kaiser, Werner Blum and Jill P. Brown. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-6540-5_39

  • Mathematics teachers as instructional designers: What does it take?

    Visnovska, Jana, Cobb, Paul and Dean, Chrystal (2012). Mathematics teachers as instructional designers: What does it take?. From text to 'lived' resources: Mathematics curriculum materials and teacher development. (pp. 323-341) edited by Ghislaine Gueudet, Birgit Pepin and Luc Trouche. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-1966-8_17

  • The institutional setting of mathematics teaching and learning: Introduction

    Cobb, Paul, Dean, Chrystal, Lamberg, Teruni, Visnovska, Jana and Zhao, Qing (2011). The institutional setting of mathematics teaching and learning: Introduction. A journey in mathematics education research: insights from the work of Paul Cobb. (pp. 199-206) edited by Erna Yackel, Koeno Gravemeije and Anna Sfard. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-90-481-9729-3_12

  • Understanding the role of the institutional context in the relationship between teachers and text

    McClain, Kay, Zhao, Quing, Visnovska, Jana and Bowen, E (2009). Understanding the role of the institutional context in the relationship between teachers and text. Mathematics teachers at work : Connecting curriculum materials and classroom instruction. (pp. 56-69) edited by Janine T. Remillard, Beth A. Herbel-Eisenmann and Gwendolyn M. Lloyd. New York, USA: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203884645

Journal Article

Conference Publication

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

  • The landscape of mathematics vocabulary in Australian secondary school mathematics classrooms

    Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Differentiating instruction in early secondary mathematics

    Doctor Philosophy — Principal Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Designing mathematics instructions and tasks for green education

    Master Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • An Epistemology of Practice for Political and Existential Citizenship

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

  • Institutional language policies, academic literacies and power: a collaborative investigation of practices in higher education in Queensland

    Doctor Philosophy — Associate Advisor

    Other advisors:

Completed Supervision

Possible Research Projects

Note for students: The possible research projects listed on this page may not be comprehensive or up to date. Always feel free to contact the staff for more information, and also with your own research ideas.

  • Fractions and proportional reasoning across the years of schooling

    Big part of my research includes exploring, understanding, and developing teaching resources that would aid teachers in making it possible for all students to thrive in mathematics classrooms. Typical resources used for initial teaching of fractions often support students' "performance" in the short run, but later undermine their efforts of making sense of proportionality. In this project, you will explore the types of difficulties students face and how these difficulties relate to the resources used in their teaching, and propose and trial alternative pathways for teaching fractions and proportionality in mathematics classrooms.

  • Theorising and design of (mathematics) teachers' resources

    Teaching resources (textbooks and their alternatives) reveal how we, as a society, and as researchers and designers, conceptualise teaching. On the one hand, resources can dictate to the teacher what is to be done. On the orther hand, they can collaborate with the teacher on figuring out how to best respond to different situations that arise in different classrooms. To produce resources that would be most useful to teachers in their diverse classrooms, researchers and designers must deal well with and rigorously theorise the complexity of education and teaching. How should we conceptualise teaching and how can we bring a particular conceptualisation of a teacher and teaching into resource design?

This staff member is a UQ Expert for media in the following fields:

Professional development of mathematics teachers, Teaching fractions, Teaching early number, Teaching proportional reasoning, Teaching Numeracy across curriculum, Classroom mathematical conversations, Teaching problem solving, Purposes of mathematics education, Ambitious and equitable teaching of mathematics

They are happy to lend their expertise to your articles or broadcasts and share their research discoveries and insights with the community via media channels.

For additional assistance with story ideas, general advice and information or help with seeking further experts, please email the UQ Media Team or telephone (07) 3365 1120.

Links

ResearcherID: C-7298-2014

ORCID: 0000-0003-1794-7439

Scopus ID: 55934981800

Google Scholar ID: Fp2rZJ8AAAAJ

Personal Profile: Link

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