"You have to bake the students good bread so that they get a taste for maths"
Assistant Professor Christina Krause actually wanted to become a teacher. Now she teaches prospective maths teachers at the University of Graz and teaches them how to make maths appealing to students. She is involved in three clusters in the FUTURE EDUCATION programme: Educational Technology(s), MINT+ and Plurality and Diversity.
After completing her doctorate at the University of Bremen, she didn't actually want to stay at the university. But something kept pushing her in this direction instead of becoming self-employed. "Because it's so exciting," says Assistant Professor Christina Krause, who works at the Institute of Mathematics and Scientific Computing at the University of Graz and at the Faculty Didactics Centre for Natural Sciences and Mathematics for the subjects of biology, chemistry, mathematics and physics (DINAMA). Biting through her doctorate, which she added to her maths and physics degree at the University of Oldenburg, and then all the sense of achievement when her own research results are recognised at a conference, for example. There have always been such high points in her research career to date. "And you have to hold on to them for a long time, because there might not be another one for a long time. Or the demands increase." It was this sense of achievement that motivated her at the start of her career.
In the meantime, the driving forces behind her motivation have shifted more towards content: dealing with inclusive learning. With educationally appropriate maths didactics that focus on pupils' potential rather than their deficits. With how blind people hear mathematical functions. Or how important language is for deaf people in maths lessons. The latter group in particular is caught in a vicious circle, she emphasises: "The learning conditions for deaf people are often not right. Where language problems exist - or are created because the learners' natural language is not taken into account - and reading is difficult, it is also more difficult to learn maths. Or the need to deal with higher maths doesn't arise in the first place."
After completing her doctorate, Christina Krause initially worked as a postdoc at the University of Duisburg-Essen and the University of Siegen, where she held a guest professorship. During her time at Berkeley, where she held a Marie Skłodowska Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship, she came into close contact with the topic of inclusive learning. There, she became more involved with the idea of combining inclusive learning with movement and sensory perceptions. The focus here was on the question of what resources people with autism or visual impairments, for example, use and how these can be utilised in a meaningful way for learning mathematics. Embodiment is also one of her main areas of research, which she is pursuing in a current international research programme 'SpEED - Special Education Embodied Design'. The embodiment approach states that conceptual thinking characterises cognitive structures. It builds on experience of the world. In a nutshell: the body is essential for learning. "When we ride a bike, we learn what balance is. Such an experience of balance is needed in order to understand the idea behind mathematical equations later on. By connecting to and relating back to movement and sensory experiences, you can reflect on mathematical ideas and relate approaches to mathematical problems back to movement problems."
"My mission is to make the image of maths more inclusive - at university too! Because those who do maths and have encountered little resistance in their own mathematical careers often can't even imagine what many people have problems with in maths."
Making maths appealing to children as early as possible is also on Christina Krause's agenda. Starting at secondary school is not too late, but it is much more difficult, she emphasises: "You have to start earlier - in kindergarten or primary school." This is because teachers often don't have the opportunity to teach the maths content that is fun. That's why she actively tries to catch children who don't know what maths actually is. "At university, they make delicious, substantial brown bread. At school, it's reduced to plain white bread, and the pupils don't even get to know how tasty maths can be. You have to bake good bread for the pupils - give them a taste for it - and then they might find their way to university later on."
In order to facilitate these approaches, she also relies on the use of apps in maths lessons, which offer students the opportunity to create interactive and appealing teaching material for students themselves. As examples, she mentions the Actionbound apps, which allow users to design their own interactive scavenger hunts, or the TouchCounts/TouchTimes app, which allows pupils - and even kindergarten children - to interactively discover how to deal with numbers and operations. This is intended to motivate pupils to see the diversity of maths and approaches to it and to draw in those who are not yet interested in maths. "Maths is not just about learning formulas and their effects. And it's not a case of 'I can or I can't'." A 'growth mindset' is increasingly needed instead of a 'fixed mindset', and she wants to support this change in thinking among pupils, parents and teachers. "Maths didactics is still so young. There's still room for improvement!"
Would she take this career path again if she had the choice? "I think I would. In business, it would certainly be easier to call it a day. At university, on the other hand, you have a lot of freedom. That makes it both easier and more difficult to combine family and career."
And there is another major advantage that should not be underestimated: Namely, that you can devote yourself to matters that are personally on your mind, even professionally. "But that's perhaps just my own turn. My son was recently diagnosed with giftedness and since then this has also had a big impact on the perspectives of my inclusive orientation. I can fully live out my curiosity as to what advantages - but also problems - this brings and how this fits into the embodiment focus."
And what advice does she have for young researchers? "To follow their own curiosity and drive and to dare to go against the 'establishment' and go somewhere else. It takes stamina and perseverance to succeed in research. At the same time, you should take good care of yourself, look after your own mental health and create a balance."
Ass.-Prof. Dr.rer.nat. Christina Krause
+43 316 380 - 5060
Institut für Mathematik und Wissenschaftliches Rechnen
Mi, 14:15-15:15 Uhr und nach Vereinbarung, auch online
https://tinyurl.com/ChristinaKrause