Candidate for President-Elect

Matthias Brandl

• Institution: University of Passau, Passau, Germany

• Link to Social Media:

• MCG Activities:

  • Member of the International Committee (IC) of MCG (since 2019)

  • Founding Member of MCG (since 2010)

  • Participation in four MCG Conferences: MCG13 ([2024], South Africa), MCG12 (2022, USA), MCG11 (2019, Germany), MCG6 (2010, Latvia)

  • Member of the International Scientific Committee (ISC) of MCG11

  • Reviewer for MCG13, MCG12 and MCG11

  • Member of the MCG Newsletter Editorial Board (since 2023)

  • Founding Member of MKB, which manages the money of MCG (since 2017)

  • Participation in the corresponding TSG or WG of ICME-14 (2021), ICME-13 (2016), ICME-12 (2012), CERME-9 (2015), CERME-8 (2013), CERME-7 (2011)

  • Member of the international organization team of the corresponding TSG 4 at ICME-13 (2014 - 2016)

Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness:

• Research aspects:

  • Relationship between talent potential and performance; Context dependency of the giftedness construct; Inclusive talent development; Twice exceptional children; Mathematical beliefs/attitudes towards mathematics; Fostering, esp. materials; Theoretical, empirical and didactic development/design research; International cooperation.

• Achievements:

  • 35 (+ 3 „in press“) publications in the area of mathematically creativity and giftedness

  • E.g.: Co-author of "Singer, Sheffield, Freiman, & Brandl (2016). Research On and Activities for Mathematically Gifted Students. ICME-13 Topical Surveys. Springer", which describes the international research and fostering activities situation concerning mathematical giftedness and has over 130 citations up to now.

  • 50 talks/presentations in the area of mathematically creativity and giftedness

  • Supervisor/First reviewer of one, and second reviewer of two more dissertations for a Ph.D. in the area of mathematical creativity and giftedness

Prioritized Goals for MCG

• Continuation of current activities, in particular regular international conferences

• Representation of MCG, especially at relevant other international conferences (like ICME and CERME)

• Structural further development of the financial resources of MCG in MKB

• Further development of the newsletter (somewhat in the direction of a scientific journal)

• Establishing of an honoring prize for members of MCG for outstanding achievements in the area of mathematical creativity and giftedness

• Ideas/Plans for marketing actions for recruitment of new members

• Cleanup and consolidation of the membership list especially w.r.t. to the e-mail-addresses

• Promotion of international collaborations

• Further development of the MCG constitution

Candidates for International Committee Members

Aymah Aljarrah

Institution: Acadia University, Wolfville, Canada

Link to Social Media:

MCG Activities: I joined the group in May 2018. Since then, I have participated in two conferences:

o   Aljarrah, A., & Towers, J. (2019). Discerning two creative Acts: Expanding possibilities and divergent thinking. In M. Nolte (Ed.), Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness (MCG 11) (pp. 103-108). University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.

o   Aljarrah, A., & Preciado Babb, P. (2022). Shifting metaphors as a trigger for creativity: A review of students’ mathematical creative acts. In S. A. Chamberlin (Ed.), Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness (MCG 12) (pp. 59-65). Alexis Park All Suite Resort and Conference Center, Las Vegas, NV, USA.

Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness: My longstanding interest in collective creativity resulted in several conference presentations and journal publications. Several pieces of my work on collectivity and creativity have been presented at, and published in the proceedings of national and international venues such as the IDEAS conference co-organized by the Werklund School of Education; the international Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME); the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME-NA); the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG); the International Group for Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness (MCG), the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching, the 2016 conference of the Canadian Society for Study of Education). In addition, I have published in peer-reviewed journals such as Delta-K Journal and the Journal of Mathematical Behavior.

Prioritized Goals for MCG

• Hosting an International Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness Conference in Canada.

• Attract more Canadian scholars in the fields of mathematics and mathematics education to join the International Group for Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness.

• Promote the diversity of our group by attracting scholars from different parts of the world to join the group.

Alexander Karp

Institution: Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, USA

Link to Social Media:

MCG Activities:

• Participated in a few Conferences (say, Rousse, Bulgaria; Riga, Latvia, Denver, USA; Haifa, Israel)

• Editor of the section of Newsletter.

Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness:

• Published a number of research papers and chapters on the gifted education and its history.

• Coedited a special issue on this theme.

• Authored collections of problems for use in schools with an advanced course of study in mathematics.

Prioritized Goals for MCG

• To assist in the organization of International publications on mathematically gifted education.

Dominic Manuel

Institution: University of Alberta, Campus Saint-Jean, Edmonton, Canada

Link to Social Media:

MCG Activities: I attended the 2014 MCG Conference in Denver. I presented the results of my master’s thesis in which I studied the richness of mathematical problems posted in the CAMI virtual community, the creativity of the students’ solutions submitted online for those problems using fluency, flexibility and originality as variables, and the link between the richness of the problems and the creativity of the solutions. I also gave a talk entitled Connecting Creativity, Learning Mathematics and Technologies: What are the Possibilities? in a symposium on using technology to develop mathematical creativity and giftedness led by Dr. Freiman and Dr. Tassell. I also participated in writing a synthesis of that symposium in the February 2015 newsletter.

Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness: In research, I focused on technologies such as virtual communities like the CAMI website as potential in developing mathematical creativity and talent. I worked with Dr. Freiman and participated in the development and management of the website and researched its potential in developing mathematical talent. Moreover, I studied if CAMI can foster mathematical creativity for my thesis. My thesis received an honours mention by its jury. I also published articles both in French and English including a book chapter in the book Creativity and Technology in Mathematics Education published in 2018 by Springer. An article in French won a prize for best articles by the Center of Research and Development in Education, U of Moncton. In practice, I worked with schools since 2007 and supported teachers in meeting the needs of gifted students, and offered enrichment to students. Since 2020, I offer enrichment online on Zoom to students from different schools in Alberta, where I am now professor.

Prioritized Goals for MCG My goal for MCG research is to deeper study teaching practices as a way to foster the development of students' mathematical creativity and talent. I noticed while working with students that most seem to struggle with communicating their reasoning. I argue that putting emphasis on teaching practices that brings students to present their reasoning may support them in communicating their ideas logically and more clearly. As a member of the IC, my goal would be to contribute to the discussions and decisions with the other members and find strategies to make research on MCG more visible so educators see the importance of developing creativity and talent in students. In addition, I would be willing to host a future conference at my university.

Jack Marumo 

Institution: Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein, South Africa

Link to Social Media: https://twitter.com/marumojm

MCG Activities: I have had the distinct privilege of serving on the website committee for the MCG organization for the past four years, commencing my role in 2019. During this tenure, I have been dedicated to the digital presence of MCG, ensuring that our website serves as a valuable hub for information. Serving in the MCG committee helped me to be actively engaged with the global community of experts and enthusiasts in mathematical creativity and giftedness.

Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness:

• Over the years, my research was focused on mathematical creativity and giftedness. I have conducted studies and presented at national and international conferences, exploring the pedagogical strategies that influence the development of mathematical talent.

• Additionally, I have contributing to the development of teachers’ programmes and teaching methodologies tailored to the needs of mathematically gifted learners. These resources aim to provide challenging and stimulating learning experiences that go beyond traditional classroom instruction, thereby promoting deeper engagement and achievement among gifted students.

Prioritized Goals for MCG: My goals for the IC of MCG are underpinned by a strong commitment to advancing the field. If elected, my prioritized goals for MCG include:

• Global Collaboration: Foster international cooperation among researchers, educators, and policymakers to exchange best practices and innovative approaches for nurturing mathematical creativity and supporting gifted individuals.

• Research Promotion: Encourage research initiatives that investigate into emerging trends and challenges in mathematical creativity and giftedness, ensuring that our knowledge base remains dynamic and relevant.

• Youth Engagement: Establish platforms for young mathematicians to showcase their creativity and nurturing the next generation of mathematical talents

Elisabet Mellroth

Institution: Karlstad University / City of Karlstad, Sweden

Link to Social Media: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisabet-mellroth-93052319/

MCG Activities:

• I´ve been a member of MCG since appoximately 2014.

• I´ve participated in MCG conferences and contributed to the newsletter.

• I´ve been an IC member since the conference in Hamburg 2019. As such I have been an active member and participated in most of the meetings and also participated in the Las Vegas conference.

• I have tried to start a blog as a platform to spread knowledge and information about MCG.

• I also apply to run the conference in 2025.

• On national level I am active in arranging math clubs for students, teacher training and help teacher and students to create networks.

Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness: My research focus on teacher professional development in gifted education and specifically in mathematics. I have published several articles on this area and my doctoral thesis also has that focus. Recently I researched a project in which upper secondary students get mathematical challenges predominantly through an online environment. The study focused on the students’ experiences. In research I often study teachers collaborative learning and mostly I have used qualitative methods. Shortly said my research interest is close to practice, teaching and learning.

Prioritized Goals for MCG

• Collaboration over countries, both in practice and research.

• Create platforms on how to share knowledge (practical and theoretical) of how to support learning for mathematically gifted students.

• Contribute with my knowledge and experience to others through the platforms MCG use as well as through participating on conferences.

Anna Payne

Institution: University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA

Link to Social Media: https://twitter.com/drannampayne

MCG Activities:

• Presented at MCG 2022

• Member of Registration Committee for MCG 2022

• Working on updating MCG "Links" page with new/updated literature

Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness: I am certified as a mathematics and gifted K-12 educator; I have years of teaching experience in public schools; I have reviewed conference proposals for MCG and other math/gifted/creativity conferences; I have written research articles and a book chapter on mathematical creativity, math modeling and its impact on gifted students; I have taught multiple graduate-level courses on creativity aimed at school teachers, as well as graduate courses to help teachers learn to support gifted students (and gifted mathematics students) in the classroom; I am a member of the NAGC STEM network and have worked to develop programming for elementary Family Math Nights as a form of talent development; I am currently developing a research plan to explore teacher pedagogical content knowledge in relationship to mathematical creativity and its impact on student performance.

Prioritized Goals for MCG

• Work to bridge the research/school gap; increase awareness at graduate student level of MCG

S R  Santhanam

Institution: Association for International Mathematics Education and Research (AIMER), Peddapuram, India

Link to Social Media:

MCG Activities: Attended the Conference in Las Vegas. It was really a nice experience because this is the only conference where the focus is on Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness. Many other conferences have dispersed themes and one may not get even one or two papers presented on this specialized topic. The organizers of Las Vegas conference took lot of interest and pains to conduct a wonderful and useful conference. I really feel how I missed such good conferences previously. I am involved in Mathematical Olympiad Coaching for the past 30 years in India gives a good experience. Regularly giving lectures on Olympiad Mathematics for all levels is another good activity of mine apart from a regular classroom teaching.

Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness:

• A wonderful and specialized field of mathematics education is Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness. I came across this when I was the principal of a school in India around 35 years ago. A University Professor of mathematics gave me some classes to teach the math Olympiad student aspirants. To a teacher it was not simple to get nonroutine problems. They available in the form of articles or journals that too in India. From that time onwards, I started working on this aspect of problem solving and the Association of Mathematics Teachers of India. (58 years old association) encourage me and I became the secretary of this in the year 1994. From that time onwards till date I had been in various positions of the association, but present the conference secretary.

• At present, I am, along with the post of conference secretary of AMTI, the president of the Association for International Mathematics Education and Research.

Prioritized Goals for MCG

• I will be useful in reviewing research papers that are coming for MCG Conferences and conducting online classes for teachers and students on non-routine problem-solving techniques. I am interested in conducting a future conference of MCG in India.

Attila Szabo

Institution: Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

Link to Social Media:

MCG Activities:

• I have been a member of the IC of MCG since 2019.

• Also, I have participated and presented papers at the past three conferences.

Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness:

Some publications:

• Brandl, M., & Szabo, A. (2019). Overexcitability, iconoclasm and mathematical creativity & giftedness. In M. Nolte (Ed.), Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness (pp. 53–58). Hamburg: Hamburg University.

• Szabo, A. (2017). Matematikundervisning för begåvade elever – en forskningsöversikt. [Mathematics education for gifted pupils – a systematic overview]. Nordic Studies in Mathematics Education, 22(1), 21–44.

• Szabo, A., Tillnert, A.-S., & Mattsson, J. (2024). Displaying gifted students’ mathematical reasoning during problem solving: Challenges and possibilities. The Mathematics Enthusiast, 21(1–2), 179–202.

• Vinerean, M., Szabo, A., Fahlgren, M., & Sriraman, B. (2022). Prospective teachers constructing dynamic geometry activities for gifted pupils: Connections between the frameworks of Krutetskii and van Hiele. Gifted Education International, 38(2) 273–294.

Prioritized Goals for MCG

• To keep up the good work within the IC

Andreas Ulovec

Institution: University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Link to Social Media:

MCG Activities:

• Have attended several MCG conferences (Riga 2002, Rousse 2003, Riga 2010, Hamburg 2019, Las Vegas 2022)

• Served in the IC from 2010-2014, and again from 2019-now.

Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness: I have started taking interest in the field of Creativity and Giftedness in the early 2000s. From 2005-2008, in collaboration with colleagues from Aarhus (DK), Pisa (IT), and Sofia (BG), I worked on an EU-funded project with the goal of helping teachers identify gifted students, and support them with suitable teaching materials. In 2012, the same group reunited to improve those materials in another EU-funded project. In recent years, I have taken an interest in how to specifically help students with an immigrant background to foster their creativity and unfold their full mathematical potential.

Prioritized Goals for MCG

• First goal would be to continue supporting the officers and other IC members in their efforts to promote the MCG activities and making them more visible within the mathematics education community. Second goal is to try and get the research results in the field of creativity and giftedness into the classrooms, making them accessible for teachers and students. And third goal would be to increase awareness of mathematical creativity and giftedness (and dispel a number of existing misconceptions) in the general population.

Christine H. Weiss

Institution: Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, USA

Link to Social Media: www.linkedin.com/in/christinehweiss

MCG Activities:

• I currently serve as the Associate Editor of the MCG Newsletter, a publication that is distributed twice a year. I have served in this role since November of 2022.

• My first experience with the organization was as a presenter at the ICMCG 12th Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada in September 2022.

Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness: As a doctoral student the research for my dissertation was titled: Teacher Practices, Beliefs, and Conceptual Understanding: A Phenomenological Study of Teachers Instructing Mathematically Gifted and Promising Students, which is published in Proquest. I also received one of the Top 3 Research and Evaluation awards for my dissertation from the National Association of Gifted Children (NAGC) in 2022, and was a presenter with the other two recipients at the NAGC Annual Conference in Indianapolis 2022. Other recent presentations include: the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (2022) annual conference where I presented on mathematically challenging tasks, the NCAGT (North Carolina Association for Gifted and Talented ) 2022 annual conference, and the North Carolina Association of Research in Education, the state organization for the AERA, in February 2023. This is not a complete list of research and achievements; I would be happy to submit my most current CV for your review.

Prioritized Goals for MCG

We have a unique organization, but one whose reach could be expanded to include more people who could benefit from the work and the resources of MCG members.

Goals:

• Increase MCG membership and countries represented;

• update and maintain the Website, and include new sections (James Ginter's problem-solving videos, for example),

• expanding the availability of both the Newsletter and the Website to more organizations, universities, and individuals, especially K-12 teachers.

• Finally, I would like to see a panel of the founders of this organization present at the 2025 conference to share the early history of MCG, where we are today with our mission, and plans for the future. This should be taped for posterity and shared broadly.

2025 MCG Conference Proposal

June 16 – 18, 2025 Combined MCG and ECHA conference in Karlstad, Sweden

During the bright summer in Sweden we wish to invite you to a conference with focus on sustainability and inclusion in gifted education. We bring together two organisations which we believe can share knowledge and contribute to each other. MCG has mathematics in focus and ECHA which has gifted education in general as focus.

The themes sustainability and inclusion have double meanings:

Both organisations strive for sustainable solutions in education of students with high ability. For both organisations it is important that also highly able students are included in learning. We strive to create a sustainable conference. Therefore, the venue will be reachable from the hotels by foot, by bike or by bus. Meals will be vegetarian, and the provided information will be given in digital forms.

The double meaning of inclusion means that we work hard to keep the conference fee as low as possible. Therefore, the proposed venue is an upper secondary school close to the city centre of Karlstad. The coffee and lunches will be provided by the school kitchen. Although this sounds simple, we guarantee you that you will be amazed both by the venue and the food.

The key-note speakers are chosen to fit both the MCG and the ECHA audience. One of our key-notes for example Professor Tracy Riley, is a member of the executive committee of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children (WCGTC). Professor Riley works at the Massey University in New Zealand. Associate Professor Jorryt van Bommel from Karlstad University will especially focus on mathematics and giftedness. van Bommel is well-acknowledged in Sweden and internationally and has a long experience from mathematics didactics. She also works as guest professor at Inland Norway University of Applied Science and at Dalarnas University.

Mathematics will be visible through dedicated strands at the conference, but participants can freely choose from the wider double-conference content.

We hope to welcome you all to Sweden in June 2025.

//Elisabet Mellroth and Valerie Margrain (conference chairs).