The Graduate School has selected Emmanuel Agyei as its December 2025 GradBird Scholar recipient. GradBird Scholar is an initiative to recognize graduate students for their scholarly endeavors at Illinois State University.
Agyei, a doctoral student in mathematics education, holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. Throughout his education, he has held roles as a mathematics teacher, graduate teaching assistant, national census trainer, and assistant examiner for the West African Examinations Council. From middle school to distance education to national training programs, Agyei has taught in a wide variety of educational settings. Outside of his academic work, he is actively involved in his church community and enjoys singing. However, he is happiest while spending quality time with his wife, Susana, and daughter, Mehetabel.
What is your favorite part of your program?
My favorite part of the mathematics education Ph.D. program is the opportunity to engage deeply with both research and teaching. I particularly value the opportunities to connect research with practice through teaching prospective elementary school mathematics teachers and participating in ongoing faculty research projects. Also, there is a strong emphasis on collaboration and reflective inquiry. Our faculty and staff are very welcoming and supportive of all students. The program creates an intellectual community where faculty and graduate students engage deeply with research ideas, support one another’s growth, and challenge assumptions in productive ways. Additionally, there is a graduate student group (SUMMIT) where doctoral students support one another to thrive academically, professionally, and personally throughout their doctoral journey.
Do you work with a specific faculty/staff member to help with your research? What has your experience been like working with them?
I work closely with my advisor, Dr. Craig Cullen, who provides thoughtful guidance as I develop my research agenda. I have also worked under the guidance of Dr. Amanda Cullen and Dr. Edward Mooney as part of a research team on a project focused on reimagining early childhood mathematics through problem-solving approaches. The mentorship provided by the mathematics education faculty has been both rigorous and supportive, encouraging me to explore meaningful questions while refining my methodological and data analysis skills. Through collaborative projects, I have gained invaluable experience in qualitative inquiry, study design, and scholarly writing.
Can you explain your research and the importance of it within your field?
Growing up as a student and a mathematics teacher in Ghana, and then becoming a doctoral student and a graduate teaching assistant in the United States, I’ve encountered several students, parents, friends, and even family members whose faces show fear whenever they hear the word “mathematics.” The majority of these individuals perceive mathematics as a challenging and abstract subject, primarily due to their experiences with mathematics education. But what if technology could help transform that fear into confidence? Broadly, my research examines the integration of technology in the teaching and learning of mathematics.
A recent study I conducted with Dr. Craig Cullen and Dr. Tami Martin explored how preservice mathematics teachers use spreadsheets to simulate randomness as a foundation for understanding hypothesis testing. While previous studies have compared the effectiveness of hands-on and computer simulations for teaching statistical concepts, this study investigates how spreadsheet-based simulations merge the affordances of both. Using a qualitative design, we analyzed classroom video data from a mathematics problem-solving course that integrates technology.
The findings showed that when technology (a spreadsheet) is used intentionally, it can blend the affordances of hands-on and computer simulations, promoting active prediction, reflection, and engagement; facilitating multiple representations; performing multiple iterations; and perceiving simulation results as real and believable.
Although the affordance of building cognitive conflict was not evident from our data, we found that the affordances were achieved not because of the technology, but by requiring preservice mathematics teachers to create and design the spreadsheet simulation from scratch and by slowing the pace of the simulation by requiring participants to record outcomes one by one. Ultimately, this work challenges us to move beyond what Papert (1987) described as a technocentric view of technology and focus instead on how technology can be used to foster reasoning and understanding, because the technology itself does not make a difference, but rather how it is used.
I truly appreciate the Office of Student Research Pinion Grant, College of Arts and Sciences Student Travel Funds, and the Department of Mathematics for funding my presentation of this research at the 47th Annual North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA) Conference in State College, Pennsylvania.
Why do you enjoy researching this topic, and what more do you hope to learn about it?
I am passionate about this research focus because it sits at the intersection of mathematics education, technology, and human learning. Emerging technologies continue to reshape mathematics education in diverse ways, and I am eager to understand how both students and teachers can use them responsibly and effectively to support conceptual understanding. I aim to uncover productive strategies that help mathematics educators to integrate emerging technologies in ways that truly enhance student learning.
What do you hope further research about this topic will do to benefit the greater good of society?
Empowering teachers to utilize technology for meaningful mathematics instruction effectively has the potential to significantly enhance statistical literacy on a large scale. When teachers are equipped to use technology effectively, they can nurture students who are critical thinkers and informed citizens. Conducting this study has deepened my commitment to exploring productive ways of using emerging technologies meaningfully to support statistical reasoning, a direction I continue to pursue in my doctoral research.
Would you like to highlight anything else about your research or promote anything specific you are involved in?
In addition to my dissertation work, I am excited to work as a research assistant under the supervision of Dr. Mahtob Aqazade on a National Science Foundation funded collaborative project about designing and developing integer games to reduce barriers to algebra for elementary-aged students. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the entire mathematics education faculty here at Illinois State University for assisting me in building a strong foundation towards the realization of my career and professional goals.
