From mathematics to STEM education: an unexpected journey
Department of Mathematics, University of Göttingen - Daniel Schwen, CC BY-SA 2.5 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5>, via Wikimedia Commons
Note: A German version of this article was originally published on the website of the Mathematics Department at the University of Göttingen.The familiar smell of chalk dust filled the air as I stood in front of a blackboard at the Mathematics Institute in Göttingen last November. But unlike my student days when I would be puzzling over weekly assignments, I was now guiding doctoral students in mathematics communication. The building hadn't changed at all - the same rooms, the same walls carrying traces of mathematical thought - but my relationship with mathematics and my career had evolved in ways I couldn't have anticipated as a student.
Back in 2008, when I first walked these halls as an undergraduate, I was drawn to the elegance of mathematics and its power to explain the physical world. This interest led me to study mathematics and physics in parallel. While completing my degrees, I took journalism courses and worked as a teaching assistant ("HiWi") at the institute. These early experiences - explaining mathematical concepts to other students and writing about scientific topics - sparked my interest in science communication. Mathematics taught me an analytical mindset and how to break down complex ideas into their fundamental components. At the same time, my teaching experience helped me understand how to rebuild these ideas in ways that resonated with others.
Mathematical Thinking in Interdisciplinary Research
What I didn't realise then was how this combination would open unexpected doors – and would lead to me becoming an educational researcher. Building on Göttingen's strong foundation in mathematics and communication, I pursued a PhD in physics education research in Oslo while also completing training at the Freie Journalistenschule Berlin. Today, as an assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen, I investigate how our most abstract understanding - be it in mathematics, physics, or other STEM fields - is fundamentally grounded in bodily experiences. It's a research direction that combines my training in mathematics and physics with insights from cognitive science and educational research.
While the skills required in my work today might seem far removed from proving theorems or solving differential equations, I find myself constantly drawing on the approaches I learned through mathematics - the ability to quickly grasp new concepts, identify patterns, connect seemingly disparate ideas, and move between abstract principles and concrete examples. These skills come in handy in my interdisciplinary work, where I need to facilitate collaboration between researchers, designers, and teachers while communicating effectively across disciplinary boundaries.
What fascinates me most in my current research is tracing how our minds bridge the vast gap between concrete physical experiences and abstract mathematical or scientific concepts. Even in the most abstract reaches of mathematics, we find echoes of basic bodily experiences - in how we visualise geometric transformations, conceptualise numerical relationships, or reason about mathematical structures. Understanding this cognitive achievement from embodied experience to mathematical abstraction is, of course, theoretically intriguing - but it also offers practical insights for making STEM education more accessible and meaningful to learners.
Teaching general relativity during my PhD in Oslo © Magdalena Kersting, 2018. All Rights Reserved.
Giving Back: Workshop on Mathematics Communication
My return to Göttingen this November offered an excellent opportunity to give back to the community that had shaped my career. In a workshop with doctoral students and postdocs, we tackled a challenge I knew well from my own experience: how to communicate complex mathematical ideas to diverse audiences. When I asked participants what they found most challenging, their responses revealed the core dilemmas of mathematics communication. Some struggled with finding the right balance between intuition and rigour - how to give an 'idea' of their work without sacrificing mathematical precision, especially when working in highly abstract areas far removed from intuitive concepts like geometry or arithmetic. Others highlighted the challenge of conveying that mathematics is fundamentally about abstract relations, noting that concrete examples, while helpful, could sometimes overshadow the underlying concepts.
The workshop provided an excellent opportunity to explore these challenges together. We analysed different communication formats - from a Quanta Magazine article about elliptic curves, to a YouTube video explaining the Navier-Stokes equation, to a podcast about mathematical proofs. Together, we identified key principles for effective mathematics communication and crafted short research pitches where participants could practice applying these principles to their own work. It was so much fun to learn about each other's research, and watching these early-career mathematicians share their passion reminded me of my own journey from these halls to my current work in STEM education and communication.
The workshops also highlighted something I've come to appreciate deeply: the value of bringing different academic traditions into dialogue. Whether we're studying elliptic curves or investigating how learners make sense of quantum mechanics, we're ultimately exploring how human minds grasp abstract patterns and structures. Mathematical thinking offers unique insights into this process, while perspectives from cognitive science and education research help us understand how to make these abstract ideas accessible to learners.
Looking Forward: Future Paths
The value of this interdisciplinary dialogue has had an impact beyond traditional academic boundaries - my research bridging physics education and embodied cognition was recognised with the International Astronomical Union PhD Prize, while my essays exploring how our embodied experiences shape abstract mathematical and scientific understanding have received recognition from the New Philosopher magazine.
My journey from studying mathematics in Göttingen to researching embodied cognition and learning in Copenhagen might seem unexpected. However, for current mathematics students wondering about their future paths, I hope my story shows that mathematics opens doors far beyond traditional career paths. The ability to think abstractly while maintaining precision, to see patterns across seemingly disparate fields, and to communicate complex ideas clearly - these skills are helpful whether in research, education, or communication.
My visit reinforced how much potential there is for collaboration between mathematics departments and education researchers. Whether through joint workshops, shared projects on mathematical cognition, or new approaches to teaching abstract concepts, there are exciting possibilities for bringing these communities together. I am grateful for my mathematical foundations from Göttingen, and I look forward to future opportunities to strengthen this dialogue between mathematics and education research, continuing the journey that began in these very halls.