Prof. NG Oi-lam

Introduction

Dr. Oi-Lam Ng earned her PhD in Mathematics Education at Simon Fraser University. She began her career as a high-school Mathematics teacher in Vancouver, Canada, where she completed a BA in Mathematics (First Class graduate), and an MEd in Curriculum and Instructions at The University of British Columbia. Dr. Ng currently serves as Programme Coordinator for the Bachelor of Education in Mathematics and Mathematics Education (BMED) Programme. She has taught or is currently teaching the following courses: Research Teaching and Learning Mathematics in the Changing Curriculum; Researching Action in Mathematics Teaching; Teaching Number and Number Sense, Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching: Instructional Technology and Design of STEM Activities; Mathematics Teaching Project Report; and Special Topics in STEAM Education and Research. Dr. Ng is a member of the Editorial Board for Educational Studies in Mathematics (Springer), Journal of Mathematical Behavior (Elsevier), Journal of Educational Computing Research (SAGE), and Digital Experience in Mathematics Education (Springer). She is recipient of the Young Researcher Award 2020 and Research Excellence Award 2023.

For more information, see: http://oilamn.ca

Research Areas

Dr. Ng's research interests cover technology innovations in mathematics classrooms, language and mathematics discourse, and constructionist learning in STEM education. It is informed by previous scholarship on the interaction between technological and mathematical evolution, and by research on new ways of doing, communicating, and representing mathematics as afforded by modern technologies. In particular, she is interested in examining mathematics classroom discourse as situated in technology-rich learning environments. As shown in her research, this type of discourse is often rich in a multimodal sense, involving both verbal and non-verbal communication, such as gestures. Dr. Ng's RGC-funded research contributes towards advancing a Papert-inspired conception of "learning as making" in technology-rich mathematics classrooms. It explores the new opportunities entailed by engaging learners in constructionist practices with emergent and digital technologies (e.g. 3D printing, programmable electronics, dynamic and multi-touch mathematics environments, etc):

1. Principal Investigator (2025-). Investigating the Secondary–Tertiary Mathematics Transition in Hong Kong: Toward Local and Global Significance. Funded by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, General Research Fund ($490,500 HKD).
2. Project Supervisor (2024-present). Empowering Youth from Underprivileged Community: Enhancing Programming Skills and Mathematical Knowledge for STEM Teaching and Learning. Funded by The Chinese University of Hong Kong Knowledge Transfer Project and The Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development (SIE) Fund ($399,467 HKD). 
3. Principal Investigator (2022-2025). Supporting Hong Kong ethnic minority learners’ multimodal mathematics learning through responsive teaching in technology-enhanced environments. Funded by the Research Grants Council (Hong Kong), General Research Fund ($424,000 HKD).
4. Principal Investigator (2021-2024). Mathematical Problem Solving through Digital Making: Envisioning a Computationally Enhanced Mathematics Curriculum in Hong Kong's Primary and Secondary Schools. Funded by the Research Grants Council (Hong Kong), General Research Fund ($638,908 HKD). 
5. Principal Investigator (2019-2021). The Effects of Implementing a 'Learning as Making' Pedagogy on School Mathematics Learning: Primary Students' Inquiry-based Making with 3D Printing Pens. Funded by Research Grant Council (Hong Kong), Early Career Scheme ($499,381 HKD).

Selected Publications and Presentations

See also, Dr. Ng’s Google Scholar and professional website
(*) denotes research supervisee; underlined denotes corresponding author

Top Cited Journal Articles

• Ng, O., & Sinclair, N. (2015). Young children reasoning about symmetry in a dynamic geometry environment. ZDM Mathematics Education, 47(3), 421-434. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-014-0660-5. 
• *Ye, H., Liang, B., Ng, O., & Chai, C. S. (2023). Integration of computational thinking in K-12 mathematics education: A systematic review on CT-based mathematics instruction and student learning. International Journal of STEM Education, 10, 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-023-00396-w. 

Representative Publications in STEM Education or Educational Technology Journals

• *Weng, X., *Ye, H., Dai, Y., & Ng, O. (2024). Integrating artificial intelligence and computational thinking in educational contexts: A systematic review of instructional design and student learning outcomes. Journal of Educational Computing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331241248686
• *Ye, H., Ng, O., *Cui, Z. (2024). Conceptualizing flexibility in programming-based mathematical problem-solving. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 62(2), 594-619. https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331231209773
• *Weng, X., Ng, O., Chiu, T. (2023). Competency development of pre-service teachers during video-based learning: A systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Computers & Education. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2023.104790.
• *Yeung, W. L.., & Ng, O. (2023). Characterizing touchscreen actions in technology-enhanced embodied learning for mathematics instruction in K-12 setting – A systematic review (2010 – 2023). Computers & Education. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2023.104881
• *Weng, X., Ng, O., *Cui, Z., & Leung, S. (2022). Creativity development with problem-based digital making and block-based programming for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics learning in middle school contexts. Journal of Educational Computing Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331221115661
• Ng, O., & Chan, T. (2021). In-service mathematics teachers’ video-based noticing of 3D Printing Pens ‘in action’. British Journal of Educational Technology, 52(2), 751-767. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13053
• *Cui, Z., & Ng, O. (2021). The interplay between mathematical and computational thinking in primary students’ mathematical problem-solving within a programming environment. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 59(5), 988–1012. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735633120979930
• Ng, O., Shi, L., & Ting, F. (2020). Exploring differences in primary students’ geometry learning outcomes in two technology-enhanced environments: Dynamic geometry and 3D Printing. International Journal of STEM Education, 7, 50. doi: 10.1186/s40594-020-00244-1
• Ng, O., & Chan, T. (2019). Learning as Making: Using 3D computer-aided design to enhance the learning of shapes and space in STEM-integrated ways. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(1), 294-308. doi: 10.1111/bjet.12643

Representative Publications in Mathematics Education Journals

• Ng, O. (2025). Problem solving with discrete variables from a computational thinking perspective. For the Learning of Mathematics, 45(2), 44-48.
• Ng, O., & *Yeung, W. L. (2025). Making tens with four hands: Touchscreen-based classroom activity for early number learning. Digital Experience in Mathematics Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40751-025-00171-2
• Ng, O., Leung, A., *Ye, H. (2023). Exploring Computational Thinking as a Boundary Object between Mathematics and Computer Programming for STEM Teaching and Learning. ZDM Mathematics Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-023-01509-z
• *Liang, B., Ng, O., & Chan, Y. (2022). Seeing the continuity behind “double discontinuity”: Investigating Hong Kong prospective mathematics teachers’ secondary–tertiary transition. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 113, 107-124. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10649-022-10197-7
• Helliwell, T., & Ng, O. (2022). Imagining possibilities: Innovating mathematics (teacher) education for sustainable futures. Research in Mathematics Education, 24(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/14794802.2022.2079553
• Ng, O., & *Cui, Z. (2021). Examining primary students’ mathematical problem-solving in a programming context: Toward a computationally enhanced mathematics education. ZDM Mathematics Education, 53, 847–860. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-020-01200-7
• Ng, O., Cheng, W.K., Ni, Y., & Shi, L. (2020). How linguistic features and patterns of discourse moves influence authority structures in mathematics classrooms. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education. doi: 10.1007/s10857-020-09475-z
• Ng, O., & Ferrara, F. (2020). Towards a materialist vision of ‘learning as Making’: The case of 3D Printing Pens in school mathematics. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 18, 925–944. doi: 10.1007/s10763-019-10000-9
• Ng, O. (2019). Examining technology-mediated communication using a commognitive lens: The case of touchscreen-dragging in dynamic geometry environments. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 17(6), 1173-1193. doi: 10.1007/s10763-018-9910-2
• Ng, O., Sinclair, N., & Davis, B. (2018). Drawing off the page: How new 3D technologies provide insight into cognitive and pedagogical assumptions about mathematics. The Mathematics Enthusiast, 15(3), 563-578.
• Ng, O. (2016). The interplay between language, gestures, dragging, and diagrams in bilingual learners’ mathematical communications. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 91(3), 307-326. doi: 10.1007/s10649-015-9652-9

Plenary and Invited Lectures

1. Ng, O. (2025, Aug). Conceptualizing integrated STEM education through the lens of constructionism and boundary crossing: Research on computational thinking in mathematics education. Plenary Lecture at the 2025 Conference on STEM in Mathematics Education in Korea. Chungbuk National University.
2. Ng, O. (2025, Jul). Computational Thinking as a Catalyst for Change: Reflecting on What, Why, How, and for Whom We Teach Mathematics in the Age of AI. Invited Lecture at The 9th ICMI-East Asia Regional Conference on Mathematics Education (EARCOME 9), Seoul National University.
3. Ng, O. (2025, Jul). Learning outcomes and trajectories in computationally enhanced mathematics education. Plenary Lecture at International Conference on Mathematics and Mathematics Education (ICMME) 2025. University of Peradeniya.
4. Ng, O. (2024, Jul). From programming-rich to AI-literate and data-science-enhanced mathematics education. Invited lecture at The 15th International Congress on Mathematical Education, Sydney.
5. Baccaglini-Frank, A., Jones, K., Lew, H.-C., Ng, O., Venkat, H. (2021, July). Will the the Fourth Industrial Revolution transform or disrupt mathematics education?. Plenary Panel Discussion at the 44th Conference of the International Group of Psychology in Mathematics Education.