My scholarship in general has been focused on addressing three key gatekeepers in education: 1) dismantling mathematics as a gatekeeping subject, 2) easing postsecondary transitions as a gatekeeping juncture, and 3) centering the students who are gatekept and excluded from opportunity.
Below are my most recent research projects:
US Fulbright Research Scholar Fellowship: Examining Culturally Responsive Teaching in the Math Instruction of Indigenous Children in Taiwan
This project examines how in-service elementary school teachers in Taiwan are implementing culturally responsive teaching in their mathematics instruction to close what the United Nations calls a “critical education gap” that exists between indigenous children and their peers from majority ethnic groups. The goal is to better understand and cull best practices on how teachers draw on students’ cultural, linguistic, and community funds of knowledge to enhance students’ math learning. This project aims to contribute knowledge to Fulbright Taiwan’s special project area of the Indigenous People Initiative by combining national teacher surveys and interviews with a comparative case study of Xiangbi Elementary School and Danfeng Elementary School – two schools serving differing proportions of indigenous students. Ultimately, this study also aims to support Taiwanese educators as they contend with how to effectively implement culturally responsive teaching as part of the Education Act for Indigenous Peoples.
Developing elementary pre-service teachers’ ability to implement high-quality mathematics instruction through computational thinking
In collaboration with Dr. Michael Perrone (co-PI), this study explores the application of computational thinking as a framework of strategies that can: 1) help teacher candidates attend to their students’ mathematical practices in their field placements, and 2) help their students solve complex mathematics problems. Drawing on field placement artifacts (e.g. lesson plans, observations, reflections), surveys, and interviews, we investigate how a cohort of pre-service teachers explicitly and/or implicitly apply computational thinking to their lesson planning and mathematics instruction, particularly to help elementary learners achieve the standards for mathematical practice. Furthermore, we study how integrating CT practices in their mathematics instruction enables or constrains pre-service teachers from enacting culturally responsive and sustaining education.
Publications
Pai, G., & Perrone, M. (2025). Applying computational thinking to support elementary pre-service teachers’ mathematical problem posing. In Farenga, S., Ness, D., & Garafalo, S. (Eds.), International Handbook of Research on STEAM Curriculum and Praxis (pp. 345-364). NY: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003435488
Pai, G., Perrone, M, & Negron, A. (2025). Developing pre-service teachers’ understanding of mathematical practices through computational thinking. Connections, 34(4). https://amte.net/connections/2025/06/developing-pre-service-teachers%E2%80%99-understanding-mathematical-practices-through
This project has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at the City University of New York (CUNY). I am grateful for the CUNY Computing Integrated Teacher Education (CITE) Research Award program for supporting this project.
Culturally responsive and sustaining mathematics education in NY
New York State Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education framework
I am conducting a survey and interview study of public K-5 classroom teachers in New York to learn more about elementary school teachers’ perceptions and experiences of culturally responsive and sustaining education (CRSE), including in teaching elementary mathematics. An important part of the study design is to understand the experiences and opinions of teachers across New York state (upstate, Hudson Valley, Long Island, and NYC).
I am no longer accepting study participants.
Publications
Pai, G. (2025). Exploring elementary teachers’ implementation of culturally responsive mathematics teaching practices. In Proceedings of the 47th annual meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education. State College, Pennsylvania. October 28, 2025. http://www.pmena.org/pmenaproceedings/PMENA%2047%202025%20Proceedings.pdf
Pai, G. (2025). Elementary teachers’ experiences of implementing culturally responsive and inclusive education in New York state. Education Sciences, 15(1), 89. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci15010089
This project has been approved by the Institutional Review Board at the City University of New York (CUNY). I am grateful for the PSC CUNY Research Award program for supporting this project.
