Theodore Chao has been awarded a 2021-2022 Fulbright U.S. Scholar - ASEAN Research Program award to Vietnam and Indonesia

Theodore Chao, associate professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning in the College of Education and Human Ecology, has been awarded a 2021-2022 Fulbright U.S. Scholar - ASEAN Research Program award to Vietnam and Indonesia for “Digital Mathematics Storytelling in Southeast Asia.”

From January – June 2022, Chao will be researching how the construct of Digital Mathematics Storytelling operates outside of the U.S., at Ho Chi Minh City University of Education in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and the Universitas Mataram in Mataram, Indonesia.

“My project connects the ways youth in Vietnam and Indonesia create community and cultural identity through social media video sharing, to exploring culturally specific mathematics strategies,” notes Chao. “Basically, how can youth share Instagram or TikTok videos that showcase the deep, non-Eurocentric mathematics traditions from their families and communities that do not look like “traditional” mathematics.”

“My goal is to explore how the construct of Digital Mathematics Storytelling operates outside of the U.S., particularly in showcasing innovative mathematics practices reflecting post-colonial mathematics curriculum reform. I’m very excited that this project builds off the deep partnership that Ohio State has with Indonesia,” Chao explained.

The Fulbright Scholar Program is administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars and is sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.

For more information about the Fulbright Scholar Program, contact Joanna Kukielka-Blaser.