Zhenzhen Miao, PhD

Dr Zhenzhen Miao (苗侦桢, 苗偵楨)

Dr Zhenzhen Miao is Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education at the School of Education, Jiangxi Normal University, China. She joined the faculty under the university’s prestigious Outstanding Returnee Scholar scheme (2017–2020) where she delivers a comprehensive teaching portfolio spanning advanced mathematics—including Analytic Geometry, Probability & Statistics, and Elementary Number Theory—alongside Mathematics Education and Initial Teacher Education (ITE) modules for the Grade 1–9 spectrum. Her expertise is rooted in the synergy between a deep mastery of mathematical subject matter and 15 years of intensive field-based observation of maths learning, teaching and teacher PLC, providing a holistic foundation for cultivating cognitive, metacognitive and affective excellence in both learners and future educators of mathematics.

Dr Miao earned her PhD from the University of Southampton (2016). Her doctoral research, utilising a synchronous tri-camera protocol to investigate mathematics teaching effectiveness in China and England, gained significant international attention. A defining feature of this work was her leadership of cross-national focus groups, where she facilitated video-stimulated reflective dialogue to bridge pedagogical perspectives between East and West. By using lesson recordings with bilingual subtitles, she pioneered a method for investigating cross-national teacher noticing, uncovering how educators from different cultural traditions perceive their peers’ teaching and respond to student reasoning. Released at the BERA 2014 conference, her findings featured in national media and were cited by the UK Schools Minister in policy discussions regarding the Shanghai-England Mathematics Teacher Exchange.

As a researcher of international pedagogical excellence, Dr Miao leads the MasterMT project, a large-scale study of 70 master teachers and over 3,000 students across five Chinese provinces. Utilising the TIMSS Video Studies dual-camera protocol, this project identifies the “mind, action and pattern” of extraordinary teaching and the professional trajectories that cultivate it. Her current research portfolio also includes the longitudinal McLiM project—investigating the implementation of 2022 curriculum standards in maths classes—and a 2,880-specification multiverse analysis of TIMSS data. She employs a sophisticated methodological toolkit, including multilevel modelling, multilevel structural equation modelling and latent growth curve modelling, to uncover the mechanisms underpinning classroom success.

Building on this foundation, her current work focuses on: 1) scaling up masterly maths teaching across diverse contexts; 2) multiverse analyses of large-scale international datasets; and 3) the ethical, safe and strategic integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance teacher noticing competence and formative assessment of students and student teachers within primary and secondary schooling environments.

A dedicated mentor and National Excellent Mentor Award (2023) recipient, Dr Miao has coached over 200 student teachers and supervised 46 undergraduate dissertations, several of which have earned top-tier university and national honours. She remains an active contributor to professional development at the national level, focusing on the intersection of pedagogical excellence and emerging digital tools. Her research is published in two Routledge monographs and top-tier journals such as Learning and Instruction, and she is a regular contributor to international conferences including AERA, BERA and ICME.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Effectiveness, Equity and Improvement of Mathematics Education
• Mathematics Curricula, Textbooks, Assessment and Evaluation
• Mathematics Teacher Education and Professional Learning
• International Comparisons and Collaborations in Education
• Philosophy, Methodology and Innovation of Educational Research

MEMBER

• American Educational Research Association (AERA)
• British Educational Research Association (BERA)
• British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics (BSRLM)

BOARD & SERVICE

• Invited Member of TSG 5.1 – Students’ identity, motivation and attitudes towards mathematics and its study, ICME 16 (The 16th International Congress on Mathematics Education), Prague, July 9-16, 2028.
• Invited Co-Chair of TSG 3 – The Essence of Mathematics Education in Assessment and Evaluation, EARCOME 9 (The 9th ICMI-East Asia Regional Conference on Mathematics Education), Seoul, July 2025.
• Section Editor, Jurnal Didaktik Matematika (ISSN:2548-8546), Universitas Syiah Kuala, Indonesia.
• Elected Board Member of Primary Mathematics Teaching & Learning Committee of Jiangxi Province, China.
• National External Evaluator, Undergraduate Dissertations for Academic Degrees and Graduate Examination Development Center, Ministry of Education, China.
• Examiner for Teaching Practice, the National Primary Mathematics Teacher Qualification Certificate in Jiangxi Province, China.
• Referee in the STEM specialist group, the May Red-Flower Teaching Contest for Student Teachers at Jiangxi Normal University.