2021 Susan Gay Travel Scholarship Recipient
Biyao Liang
University of Georgia
Biography
Biyao Liang is a PhD candidate in mathematics education at the University of Georgia. Her research program focuses on students’ and teachers’ mathematical cognition, teacher knowledge of student thinking, and the interplay between teachers' mathematical learning and student-teacher interactions. Her dissertation study combines the past 50 years’ constructivist epistemology, communication theory, and literature to connect the area of teacher knowledge and social interactions, aiming to understand the cognitive mechanisms underlying in-service teachers' learning about their students’ mathematical thinking through student-teacher interactions, including processes that support teachers’ reconstruction of their personal mathematical knowledge. She is the departmental nominee for the UGA Dissertation Completion Award and recipient of the Graduate Education Advancement Board Fellowship. Her work has only been possible through the support and encouragement of Dr. Kevin Moore, Dr. Amy Ellis, and Dr. Carlos Castillo-Garsow.
Besides research, Biyao has rich teaching and learning experience in mathematics classrooms in China, Kansas, and Georgia. She constantly reflects on her diverse experiences and is committed to improving the teaching and learning of mathematics in order to empower students and teachers. As for her career, she wants to be a mathematics education researcher and teacher educator, continuing to conduct research in the intersections of student thinking, social interaction, and teacher education, with a common mission of acknowledging, valuing, and celebrating students’ and teachers’ diverse ways of learning mathematics.