Outstanding Research Report Award at the 14th Jerusalem Conference on Research in Mathematics Education (JCRME14)
We are proud to share that Lilach Shaham was awarded the Outstanding Research Report Presentation at the Jerusalem Conference, which took place on February 9–10, 2026, for her talk titled:
Demonstrating How De-Ritualization Unfolds Following an Intervention
The presentation introduced an empirical model of the ritual participation spiral, offering a fine-grained account of how students’ algebraic discourse may reorganize following a targeted instructional intervention. Drawing on the commognitive framework, the study demonstrated that increases in correct answers do not necessarily indicate explorative participation, as procedurally accurate responses may coexist with persistent ritual engagement.
By tracing changes in students’ discourse over time, the findings provide empirical insight into the non-linear and multi-layered nature of de-ritualization processes in mathematics learning. This work contributes to ongoing efforts within the group to better understand how instructional interventions can support explorative participation in algebraic discourse among students at risk of entrapment in the ritual participation spiral.
Workshop on Regulatory Routines in Mathematical Discourse at JCRME14
At the 14th Jerusalem Conference on Research in Mathematics Education (JCRME14), held on February 9–10, 2026, Prof. Einat Heyd-Metzuyanim and Dr. Avital Elbaum-Cohen facilitated a workshop introducing participants to regulatory routines as part of the meta-discourse surrounding elements of mathematical discourse.
During the workshop, participants engaged in commognitive analyses of mathematical routines and practiced identifying and characterizing the regulatory routines that refer to them. The session concluded with a discussion on the role of regulation in supporting students’ explorative participation in mathematical discourse.
The 14th Jerusalem Conference on Research in Mathematics Education (JCRME14)
Members of the DIME (Discourse, Identity & Mathematics Education) Research Group at the Technion participated in the 14th Jerusalem Conference on Research in Mathematics Education (JCRME14), held on February 9–10, 2026.
Doctoral Dissertation Seminar: Tsila Yarhi
On Tuesday, January 20, 2026, Tzila Yarhi presented her doctoral dissertation seminar to the department. Her research, titled “Teachers’ Participation in Pedagogical Discourse within the Ritual Cycle of Failure to Learn Mathematics: Opportunities for Change,” examines teachers’ participation in pedagogical discourse as a site for identifying possibilities for change in persistent cycles of failure in mathematics learning.
The study is based on an in-depth qualitative case analysis focusing primarily on one mathematics teacher, with two additional teachers serving as comparative cases. All three participated in a professional development program designed to make teachers’ pedagogical discourse visible and to support reflection on their interactions with students. Drawing on a commognitive perspective and a frames-based analytical framework, the analysis examines both stability and change in teachers’ participation in pedagogical discourse over time.
A New Sign for DIME Lab
We are excited to unveil the new sign for our research lab, DIME – Discourse, Identity &
Mathematics Education. The sign now proudly marks the entrance to our shared workspace, symbolizing the lab’s expanding activities and the growing community of researchers engaged in discourse-analytic and identity-focused mathematics education research.
A special thank-you to Amiram, who took on the task of installing the sign. The photos of him putting it up capture the moment perfectly—both practical and symbolic—as we continue building the physical and intellectual home of our group.
Assoc. Prof. Heyd-Metzuyanim Presents Complexity-Commognitive Framework at University of Klagenfurt
During her recent visit to the University of Klagenfurt, Assoc. Prof. Einat Heyd-Metzuyanim delivered a well-received talk at the Institute for Mathematical Didactics (Institut fur Didaktik der Mathematik). Drawing on her emerging complexity-commognitive framework for reframing failure to teach/learn mathematics, she presented the core ideas developed in her recent work (Heyd-Metzuyanim, 2025), illustrating how patterns of mathematical failure can be understood as attractor states shaped by feedback loops between mathematizing, identity, and curricular demands. The talk generated substantial interest among faculty and students, prompting a lively discussion and many thoughtful questions.
Beyond the seminar, Assoc. Prof. Heyd-Metzuyanim met individually with doctoral and postdoctoral researchers at Klagenfurt. These meetings showcased ongoing projects aimed at strengthening students’ mathematical identities through innovative instructional and intervention designs, and opened promising avenues for future collaboration between the two institutions.
Presentation at the 31st International Mathematical Views Conference (MAVI)
Tzila Yarhi presented “Surfacing Commognitive Conflicts between an Instructor and a Teacher around Mathematics Tutoring Lessons with Struggling Students.” Her talk examined how hidden commognitive conflicts, softened by politeness strategies, shape teacher–student interactions and may hinder opportunities for meaningful change in teaching struggling students. [Read full paper here]
Lilach Shaham presented “Improvement Without Change: The Challenge of De-Ritualization.” This study explored the difficulties of helping a student move from ritual to explorative mathematical discourse. Despite progress in procedural accuracy, findings showed that deeper discourse shifts were limited, highlighting the persistent challenge of breaking the ritual cycle. [Read full paper here]
טקס סיום מסטרנטים בפקולטה
השבוע נערך בפקולטה טקס למסיימי התואר השני. במהלך הטקס קיבלו לארה שהלה וברק כהן תואר מאסטר
This week, the faculty held a ceremony for master’s degree graduates. During the event, Lara Sha’aleh and Barak Cohen received their master’s degrees.
טקס סיום דוקטורנטים בפקולטה
השבוע נערך בפקולטה טקס חגיגי לסיום דוקטורנטים, במהלכו הוענק לסורינה סבה תואר דוקטור
סורינה ייצגה את הבוגרים ונשאה נאום מרגש בשם כלל המסיימים, בו הודתה למנחים, לחברי הסגל, לעובדי הפקולטה ולמשפחה על התמיכה הרבה לאורך שנות המחקר
: דברי סורינה סבה
כשיצאתי למסע הדוקטורט, ידעתי שהוא ידרוש סקרנות, התמדה והרבה אמונה בדרך… היום, כשאני עומדת כאן, אני מבינה עד כמה המסע הזה היה אפשרי בזכות האנשים הרבים שהיו חלק בלתי נפרד ממנו… הרגע הזה הוא לא רק שלנו הבוגרים – הוא של כולנו. תודה לכולכם מכל הלב
ברכות חמות לסורינה סבה על ההישג המרשים והמרגש
This week the faculty held a festive graduation ceremony for our PhD students, where Soryna Sabbah was awarded her doctorate. Representing all graduates, Soryna delivered a heartfelt speech, thanking her advisors, faculty staff, colleagues, and family for their support throughout her research journey.
Warm congratulations to Soryna on this remarkable and inspiring achievement!
Workshop at EARLI 2025 – Mapping Regulatory Routines in Mathematical Discourse with the Discourse Mapping Diagram (August 24, 2025).
This August we had the pleasure of attending the EARLI 2025 Conference, one of the leading international gatherings for research on learning and instruction.
As part of the event, Einat Heyd-Metzuyanim, Michal Tabach, and Avital Elbaum-Cohen led a Demo Session. The session introduced participants to the Discourse Mapping Diagram (DMD) as a micro-analytical tool for examining how regulations – planning, monitoring, and evaluating – unfold within mathematical activity. This tool foregrounds the disciplinary content of self-regulations and shows how regulation is deeply intertwined with mathematical learning.
Through hands-on examples, the Demo session demonstrated how the DMD can map not only mathematical actions but also the regulatory moves that “wrap around” them, offering insights into the development of both mathematical thinking and self-regulation.
For the full paper on which this Demo session was based, see:
Heyd-Metzuyanim, E., Cohen, B., Elbaum-Cohen, A. & Tabach, M. (2025) Regulative routines and their relation to the process of de-ritualization in mathematics learning. Educational Studies in Mathematics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-025-10401-4
Presentation at PME48 – Mapping Objectification in Algebraic Discourse
At PME48 in Chile, Prof. Einat Heyd-Metzuyanim presented a Research Report led by Avital Elbaum-Cohen and co-authored with Prof. Michal Tabach, titled “Mapping Objectification in Early Algebraic Discourse.” The study introduces a new tool for analyzing the development of algebraic discourse in middle school students, using the commognitive framework. By examining how students transition from arithmetic to algebraic discourse, we trace signs of objectification-the emergence of generalized numbers as objects. [Read the full paper here] [View the presentation slides here]