Candidate for President-Elect

Elisabet Mellroth

• Institution: Department of Mathematics and Computer science, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden

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

• MCG Activities: In 2013 I first came in contact with MCG and have been a member since then. In autumn 2013 I visited our former president Professor Marianne Nolte in Hamburg to learn more about fostering mathematically gifted children. At the MCG-conference in Hamburg 2019, where I was a key-note speaker, I became a member of the IC-committee. I also joined the conference in Las Vegas (2022) and in Bloemfontein (2024). I have presented work together with colleagues in the MCG community both on MCG-conferences as well as on other conferences like IMCE and ECHA.

• Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness: My research in the field of giftedness in mathematics has a goal to improve education for the children and students who need more mathematical challenges than they are usually given in school. For this goal I have done research on professional development on gifted education for in-service teachers. I have also done research on how online solutions can be a support for mathematically gifted students. Together with colleagues from MCG I have explored and written about similarities and differences in different countries teacher professional development on mathematically gifted students. Amongst others I have studied teachers collaborative learning on mathematical giftedness and one of the used theories is Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT). My research is almost always close to practice and is often combined with school development projects, through this, teachers and students are included and engaged in my projects.

• Prioritized Goals for MCG: For me a prioritized goal is to continue working for the good spirit in MCG. It is important that we bring together practice and research on mathematics, creativity and giftedness from all over the world. I hope to contribute to an open environment where we share knowledge and ideas with each other, to inspire and to be inspired, and at the same time acknowledge our different cultures. Another prioritized goal for me is to support children and students who want and need mathematical challenges. I hope to be able to contribute to a development of the already good work people in MCG do with for example summer camps and competitions.

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 (as a presenter and first author) in two conferences: (MCG11) and (MCG12).
  • 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).
  • 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).

• Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness: My longstanding interest in collective mathematical creativity resulted in several conference presentations and journal publications. Several pieces of my work 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, the Journal of Mathematical Behavior, and the Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education.

• 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.

Mirela Vinerean Bernhoff

• Institution: Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden

• Link to Social Media:

• MCG Activities: I am currently in the local organisation of the Combined ECHA and igMCG conference, 16 – 18 June 2025.
  Presentations in the Gifted Education Group at ICME and igMCG conferences:
  1. Differentiated instructions using learning management systems in upper secondary school and university level - A research proposal. (MCG11)
  2. University students’ self-evaluation: digital solutions for identifying highly motivated students. (ICME 14)
  3. Prospective teachers constructing Dynamic Geometry Activities in order to challenge gifted pupils. (MCG12)
  4. A new digital tool for teaching mathematics and the possibility to support the mathematically gifted: Digital Interactive Mathematical Maps (DIMMs). (ICME 15)

• Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness: I have conducted several projects leading to several publications.
  Project 1. University students’ self-evaluation: digital solutions for identifying highly motivated students
  Project 2. Prospective teachers constructing dynamic geometry activities for gifted pupils
  Project 3. Detecting, inspiring, and challenging high ability students in first level university mathematics courses
  Project 4. A new digital tool for teaching mathematics and the possibility to support the mathematically gifted: Digital Interactive Mathematical Maps (DIMMs)

• Prioritized Goals for MCG: I am happy to be involved in developing the work with problem solving and ideas about how to challenge children and students in mathematics at all levels, even at university level.
  I would also like to join and contribute to collaborations between countries, for example around summer camps.
  In terms of research, I am interested in contributing to how higher education pedagogy can be investigated and developed with the aim of stimulating creativity and deeper mathematical knowledge for those students who are capable of coping with more challenges.
  I am also interested in investigating and contributing to how digital tools such as e.g. GeoGebra, VR/AR, AI can contribute to more creative thinking in mathematics teaching.

Scott Chamberlin

• Institution: University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming, USA

• Link to Social Media:

• MCG Activities: As an MCG member, I have presented in 2014 (Denver) and 2022 (Las Vegas) at IGMCG conferences. Currently, I am preparing two papers for the 2025 conference in Karlstad, Sweden. Further, I am a current member of the IC Board for MCG and I solo-edited the 2022 MCG proceedings for the conference in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA). This fall, winter, and spring, I will help co-edit, with colleagues from Sweden, the Karlstad Conference Proceedings. Also, I currently serve as a co-editor of the MCG Newsletter with my colleague Chris Weiss from the University of Ohio.

• Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness: My entire line of research focuses exclusively on mathematical giftedness and creativity. Starting with my dissertation on mathematical giftedness, several years later I expanded into mathematical creativity at the encouragement of my chair (Sidney Moon) and colleague, Eric Mann. In the interim, I have completed nearly 100 publications, with 7 of those being books on mathematical giftedness or creativity. Throughout my career, I have presented at the National Association for Gifted Children, School Science and Mathematics Association, Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators, MCG, and Psychology of Mathematics Educators-North America. As well, I have conducted professional development with various mathematics teachers, and I continue to be a passionate advocate for our most promising and often neglected young mathematicians.

• Prioritized Goals for MCG: My goals continue to focus on increasing membership so that MCG has an "active" presence of at least 500 members, in hopes that at least 200 - 250 mathematics educators and psychologists participate in the biennial conferences. Figuring out how to have nominal savings is imperative so that MCG can offset conference expenses and can thus enter each conference with some confidence that expenses can be covered, rather than hoping that conference attendance fees will happen to cover expenses. A final goal is to identify an appropriate number of attendees and members so that MCG does not get extremely large as a group. One of the original intents of the founders, in my opinion, was to have an intimate group of passionate contributors.

Judi Mills

• Institution: National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, Ireland, Kilkenny, Ireland

• Link to Social Media:

• MCG Activities: My first experience of an MCG conference was in Hamburg in 2019. I have always had a particular interest in examining what is being done internationally to challenge high-ability students and was inspired by the community of researchers in Hamburg. This conference encouraged me to explore how other countries used differentiated tasks for diverse learning environments, such as we have in Ireland, and to examine a range of methodologies to foster the creativity of students. In particular, Sriraman's presentation was the inspiration for me using his 5 principles to maximise creativity as the framework for my PhD research. In 2022 I attended the MCG conference in Las Vegas where I enjoyed Linda Sheffield's workshops in particular.

• Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness:
  I was awarded my PhD from Maynooth University Ireland, in March 2024. The title of my research was Examining the Perceptions of Able Mathematicians to Mathematics Teaching and Learning in Post-Primary Schools in Ireland. During my research I visited the Norwegian Centre for Mathematics Education, (October 2019), two schools in Sweden (November 2019) and the NRICH team in Cambridge, (January 2020). My aim was to examine the curriculum and pedagogy of these countries to analyse the strategies employed to enhance the educational experience of able mathematicians. Exploring how diverse tasks can promote creativity and enjoyment became the framework for my research.
  During my research I presented at MEI (Dublin, October 2021), the BSRLM online conference (June 2020) and the online YERME conference (April 2020). I have been a participant at SMEC (Dublin, June 2022), CERME 11 (Utrecht, February 2019) and BSRLM (Wales, June 2018) as well as the MCG conferences in 2019 and 2022.

• Prioritized Goals for MCG: One of the main motivators for me changing to my current job with the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment in Ireland was the importance of educational research throughout the organization. I see the role of the MCG as being key in promoting a different way to encourage mathematics, through the lens of creativity and activities that foster the enjoyment and beauty of mathematics. Reaching out to students who do not have the opportunity to experience creativity through international activities and shared creative tasks would be very rewarding. High-stakes exams are dominating many societies and the MCG as an organisation has the potential to offer challenge to those gifted mathematicians who are being neglected in schools.

Santhanam Sundaram Ramachandran

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

• Link to Social Media:

• MCG Activities: Attended the MCG conferences in Las Vegas and Bloemfontein. MCG conference is the only conference which concentrates on the Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness. In the other mathematics education conferences, the themes are so diverse so that there is hardly one or two papers presented on MCG. The organizers of Las Vegas and Bloemfontein conferences took lot of interest and pain to conduct wonderful and useful deliberations. I really felt how I missed such a conference in previous years. The main advantage of MCG conferences is that we get lot of people all over the world in the field of MCG. The papers presented or the workshops conducted are of good standard. MCG conferences help me very much.

• Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness: I am a mathematics teacher with an experience of 50 years (half-a-century). I started my career as an Assistance Professor of Mathematics in a college and ended up as a principal of a group of educational institutions. I conducted around 26 National and International conferences in India. I conducted around 15 teacher training courses also all over India. The 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. I started working on this aspect of problem solving and the Association of Mathematics Teachers of India. (58 years old association) encouraged me and I became the secretary of this in the year 1994. I am the author of several books on Mathematical Olympiad and algebra. 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.

Ban Har Yeap

• Institution: Pathlight School, Singapore

• Link to Social Media: www.facebook.com/BanHarMaths

• MCG Activities: Keynote at Las Vegas conference. Current IC member.

• Research/Achievements in the Area of Mathematical Creativity and Giftedness: Lesson study that leads to the development of textbook series for Singapore schools focusing on challenging mathematics for all

• Prioritized Goals for MCG: To promote MCG activities in my geographical region which is underrepresented at the moment

2027 MCG Conference Proposal