Henrik Stigberg

• Stigberg, Henrik & Stigberg, Susanne Koch (2026). Unpacking Teachers’ Transformative Agency Following Digital Fabrication Workshops on Making Mathematical Manipulatives. Digital Experiences in Mathematics Education. ISSN 2199-3246. 12, p. 393–415. doi: 10.1007/s40751-026-00194-3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Digital fabrication (DF) presents innovative opportunities for reimagining the use of manipulatives in mathematics education. Manipulatives are fundamental for helping students grasp abstract mathematical concepts. However, utilizing DF to make mathematical manipulatives requires more than just access to technology; it demands teachers’ transformative agency. This article presents the experiences of seven teachers who participated in a series of eight full-day workshops over a span of one year, focusing on making mathematical manipulatives using DF. Through interviews, the teachers offered insights into their transformative agency, detailing their sense of purpose, competency, autonomy, and reflexivity. Our results highlight the complexities, opportunities, and challenges encountered by these teachers as they navigated the integration of DF into their teaching practice. Our study led to three key implications: Utilizing DF enables teachers to make manipulatives that are pedagogically relevant; Making manipulatives with DF supports changes in teaching practices, showcasing teachers’ transformative agency; but also, a critical need for supportive infrastructure to facilitate teachers becoming makers in education. The article underscores the potential of utilizing DF to transform mathematics education while emphasizing the importance of providing sustained support to realize its potential fully.

• Stigberg, Henrik (2025). Unpacking teacher agency in communities of inquiry in mathematics teacher education. Skrifter från Svensk förening för matematikdidaktisk forskning. ISSN 1651-3274. 19, p. 353–360. doi: https:/vbn.aau.dk/ws/files/780542055/NORMA24-proceedings.pdf#page=360. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Teacher agency is essential for educational change, empowering educators to customize their teaching methods to meet diverse student needs, cultivating inclusive and engaging learning environments. In the realm of mathematics teacher education, a Community of Inquiry (CoI) describes a collaborative professional development approach rooted in inquiry-based practices. CoI encourages questioning, problem-solving, exploration, and inquiry as an epistemological stance on teaching practices. Although teacher agency has been linked to taking a critical stance in CoI, the concept of teacher agency in CoI remains underexplored. This paper delves into the nexus between CoI and teacher agency, focusing on the relationship between them. The conceptual work in this paper is exemplified by a CoI exploring digital fabrication for making mathematical manipulatives.

• Stigberg, Henrik; Stigberg, Susanne Koch & Maugesten, Marianne (2024). Introducing teacher students to digital fabrication to support children's mathematical learning. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction. ISSN 2212-8689. 40. doi: 10.1016/j.ijcci.2024.100643. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  While digital fabrication has been closely linked to narratives of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and design thinking, it can provide a gateway to reimagining mathematical teaching and deepening the understanding of both mathematical content and pedagogy. In this paper, we present a workshop series that engages teacher students in the creation of their own mathematical manipulatives using digital fabrication tools. Manipulatives are tangible objects that can be used to support children’s learning of mathematical concepts, such as numbers, fractions, or geometry. The workshops included activities for finding, adapting, creating, and sharing manipulatives (FACS) using 2D and 3D modeling and fabrication techniques. Our in-depth analysis of video recordings presents how teacher students successfully acquire digital fabrication skills and reflect on the use of customized manipulatives to support children’s mathematical learning. The findings suggest that introducing digital fabrication in teacher education programs can shift the focus from consuming ready-made manipulatives to creating customized materials that better suit the teaching context. The authors propose FACS as a specific approach for introducing digital fabrication to teacher students.

• Stigberg, Henrik; Stigberg, Susanne Koch; Maugesten, Marianne & Kaufmann, Odd Tore (2023). Teachers' critical reflections on digital fabrication for making manipulatives to support mathematical thinking. In Drijvers, Paul; Csapodi, Csaba; Palmer, Hanna; Gosztonyi, Katalin & Kónya, Eszter (Ed.), Proceedings of the thirteenth Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME13). European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. ISSN 9789637031045. p. 2804–2811. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Digital fabrication (DF) is the process of translating a digital design developed on a computer into a physical object. While digital fabrication has been widespread in STEM education and design thinking, we see an opportunity to use DF by mathematics teachers for making manipulatives opening for new learning experiences. We conducted four full-day workshops with eight in-service teachers inquiring into DF tools, techniques, and platforms. Teachers explored 2D and 3D modelling and fabrication using 3D printer, laser- and vinyl-cutter. In this paper, we report on teachers’ critical reflections on DF for making manipulatives to support their mathematical teaching. Our findings show that teachers used DF tools to create their own manipulatives and designed customized teaching activities for inquiry-based teaching. They developed a strong sense of ownership over the created manipulatives, crucial for teachers to effectively utilize manipulatives in the long term.

• Stigberg, Henrik (2022). Digital Fabrication for Mathematics Education: A Critical Review of the Field. In Hodgen, Jeremy; Geraniou, Eirini; Bolondi, Giorgio; Feretti, Federica & Ferretti, Federica (Ed.), Proceedings of the 12th Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME12). European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. ISSN 9791221025378. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article presents a critical review on digital fabrication for creating manipulatives in mathematics education research. It provides an overview of the research field from two perspectives: 1) explored digital fabrication technologies and reified mathematical concepts, and 2) applied pedagogical theories and research methodologies. Results show that 3D printing is the most common technology for creating manipulatives reifying mathematical concepts within geometry, algebra, and functions, as well as fractions. In the typical research project, a qualitative paradigm is chosen, and learning is investigated from a constructionistic perspective. The review reveals a small but trending research community and concludes with two specific opportunities for consolidating research on digital fabrication for mathematics education.

• Stigberg, Susanne Koch; Stigberg, Henrik & Maugesten, Marianne (2022). Making Manipulatives for Mathematics Education. In Hjorth, Mikkel & Ejsing-Duun, Stine (Ed.), Proceedings of 6th FabLearn Europe / MakeEd conference 2022 - An International Conference on Computing, Design and Making in Education. Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). ISSN 9781450396332. p. 1–9. doi: 10.1145/3535227.3535228. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This paper describes the efforts of an interdisciplinary team of researchers as they collaborated to create a digital fabrication curriculum module for mathematics teacher education. The initial four-day workshop design was piloted with five pre-service teachers. The design objective was to introduce digital fabrication techniques joint with mathematical concepts and the design of classroom activities to develop pre-service teachers' technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge. The workshops included activities to find, adapt, create, and share mathematical manipulatives using digital fabrication tools, techniques, and platforms. Manipulatives are tangible objects reifying mathematical concepts and one type of representation used in mathematics teaching. The paper reports on the design process and our design motivations to address contextual constraints and varying levels of exposure to digital fabrication for both pre-service teachers and teacher educators. The developed "find-adapt-create-share" framework for introducing digital fabrication was evaluated through researchers' self-reflection and pre-service teachers' feedback during concluding interviews.

• Stigberg, Henrik; Hadjerrouit, Said; Kaufmann, Odd Tore & Marentakis, Georgios (2022). Analysing tensions faced by pre-service mathematics teachers engaging in digital fabrication. In Fernandez, C.; Llinares, S.; Gutierrez, A. & Planas, N. (Ed.), Proceedings of the 45th Conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME 45). Universidad de Alicante. ISSN 9788413021782. p. 4-51–4-58. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This article analyses tensions pre-service teachers faced during the last workshop of participation in a series of professional development workshops on digital fabrication for creating manipulatives for mathematics education. Using the concept of community of practice and the notion of tension as a theoretical framework and a qualitative research design including video recording with 5 pre-service teachers, we identified three tension categories: technological, pedagogical, and workshop design. The results indicate that tensions are often caused by conflictual decisions between the workshop designers’ and students’ objectives as well as difficulties in digital fabrication and its application in teaching mathematics.

• Stigberg, Susanne Koch; Akerbæk, Tore Marius & Stigberg, Henrik (2022). Developing genres of educational programming videos to support mathematics teachers utilize programming in the classroom. Skrifter från Svensk förening för matematikdidaktisk forskning. ISSN 1651-3274. 17, p. 217–224. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In this paper, we report on the state of the art of educational programming videos and suggest three genres of educational programming videos to support mathematics teachers and teacher educators utilizing programming in the classroom. In a literature review, we report on a scattered but trending research field, synthesizing three distinct genres of education programming videos: video lectures of programming concepts, video tutorials of step-by-step instructions of educational technology, and video podcasts discussing teaching examples of how to use programming in the classroom. Finally, we present example videos for the suggested genres and conclude our work with a call for more research into educational videos for programming, suggesting two specific paths for future work.

• Maugesten, Marianne; Stigberg, Henrik & Stigberg, Susanne Koch (2022). Examining TPACK among 8th–10th grade teachers after introducing a Use-Modify-Create programming approach. In Nortvedt, Guri A.; Buchholtz, Nils; Fauskanger, Janne; Hähkiöniemi, Markus; Jessen, Britta Eyrich; Nilsen, Hans Kristian; Naalsund, Margrethe; Pálsdóttir, Guðbjörg; Portaankorva-Koivisto, Päivi; Radišić, Jelena; Sigurjónsson, Jóhann Örn; Viirman, Olov Lui & Wernberg, Anna (Ed.), Bringing Nordic mathematics education into the future. Proceedings of Norma 20, The ninth Nordic Conference on Mathematics Education. Svensk förening för MatematikDidaktisk Forskning - SMDF. ISSN 9789198402469. p. 169–176. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The story about the NORMA20 conference is the story about a conference that had to be postponed, as a pandemic prevented us from coming together to present and discuss our research. When we made the decision to postpone just after Easter in 2020, we were all sad and disappointed that all the efforts made by authors, reviewers, LOC and IPC members might be for nothing. However, during 2020, digital solutions for cooperation emerged so we could host NORMA20 as an online conference in June 2021.<p> <p>Delaying the conference had both positive and negative consequences. On the positive side, postponing allowed us to make a call for contributions in both 2019 and 2020, substantially increasing the number of submissions. Not only was the number of submissions large but the number of accepted submissions also increased. During the conference, 72 regular papers, 30 short communications, nine poster presentations, four keynotes, and one working group were presented. This made the NORMA20 conference the largest NORMA conference to date.

• Stigberg, Henrik & Stigberg, Susanne Koch (2019). Teaching programming and mathematics in practice: A case study from a Swedish primary school. Policy Futures in Education. doi: 10.1177/1478210319894785. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Programming and computational thinking have emerged as compulsory skills in elementary school education. In 2018, Sweden has integrated programming in mathematics education with the rationale that it fosters problem solving and logical thinking skills and motivates students to learn mathematics. We investigated how teachers introduce programming in mathematics education in a Swedish primary school using an explorative case study. We followed four mathematics teachers during the first semester in which programming was mandatory. They taught second-, sixth- and ninth-grade students. Our contributions are threefold: we provide an account of how programming is taught in mathematics education; we discuss how teachers reflect on the challenge of teaching programming in mathematics; and we report on students’ understanding of programming and their view on the relationship between programming and mathematics.

View all works in NVA

• Larson, Niclas; Stigberg, Henrik & Ovedal-Hakestad, Siri (2026). Spøkelser etter avdøde stipendiater. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  I 2026 års første episode av Spøkelser etter avdøde størrelser har Niclas Larson truffet to personer som akkurat har disputert. Episoden har derfor fått det passende navnet «Spøkelser etter avdøde stipendiater». Personene lever heldigvis, men rollen som stipendiat er avdød. De to nye doktorene er Henrik Stigberg og Siri Ovedal-Hakestad. Henrik disputerte den 20. januar med avhandlingen «Digital fabrication for making manipulatives in mathematics teacher education: An inquiry into digital fabrication in mathematics teacher education» og Siri disputerte den 22. januar med avhandlingen «Exploring example generation in mathematics education: Engagement with learner-generated example tasks within a computer-aided assessment system». I de semistrukturerte samtalene får vi blant annet høre om hvem Henrik og Siri er, innholdet i avhandlingene, hvordan det var å disputere og hva de vil gjøre nå. Episoden avsluttes med noen ord om Barbara Jaworski. Barbara var medlem av bedømmelseskomiteen som godkjente Henriks avhandling, men døde dessverre før disputasen der hun ville ha vært opponent.

• Stigberg, Henrik (2025). Deltakelse i panelsamtale - Fra tavle til teknologi. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Deltakelse i panelsamtale - Fra tavle til teknologi På dette arrangementet lanseres bøkene «Hva TIMSS forteller om norsk skole» og «Søkelys på digital læring», etterfulgt av en panelsamtale om hvilke utfordringer skolen står overfor når det gjelder realfag og digital kompetanse. Samtalen kan gi innspill til hvordan skolen kan håndtere disse utfordringene. Hovedresultatene fra ICILS 2023- og TIMSS 2023-undersøkelsene ble lansert før jul i 2024. Nå utgis de videre analysene av resultatene i form av to bøker. Bøkene brukes som utgangspunkt for en panelsamtale: Hvilke utfordringer står skolen overfor når det gjelder realfag og digital kompetanse, og hvordan kan disse utfordringene håndteres?

• Maugesten, Marianne; Stigberg, Henrik & Stigberg, Susanne Koch (2024). Programmering på ungdomstrinnet. Full text in Research Archive
• Stigberg, Henrik (2023). Teachers’ critical reflections on digital fabrication for making manipulatives to support mathematical teaching. Full text in Research Archive
• Nordbakke, Monica & Stigberg, Henrik (2023). Teaching and learning in mathematics. Full text in Research Archive
• Maugesten, Marianne; Stigberg, Henrik & Stigberg, Susanne Koch (2022). Programmering på ungdomstrinnet - samarbeid mellom lærerutdanningsskoler og HiØ. Full text in Research Archive
• Maugesten, Marianne; Stigberg, Henrik & Stigberg, Susanne Koch (2021). Programmering på ungdomstrinnet. Full text in Research Archive
• Stigberg, Henrik; Stigberg, Susanne Koch & Maugesten, Marianne (2021). Use-modify-create: ett arbetssätt för programmering. Nämnaren : tidskrift för matematikundervisning. ISSN 0348-2723. 3. Full text in Research Archive
• Maugesten, Marianne; Stigberg, Henrik & Stigberg, Susanne Koch (2021). Examining TPACK among 8.-10. grade teachers after introducing a Use-Modify-Create programming approach. Full text in Research Archive
• Stigberg, Susanne Koch; Stigberg, Henrik & Akerbæk, Tore Marius (2021). Developing genres of educational programming videos to support mathematics teachers utilize programming in the classroom. Full text in Research Archive
• Stigberg, Susanne Koch; Maugesten, Marianne & Stigberg, Henrik (2021). Use - modify - create. Ett arbetssätt för programmering. Nämnaren : tidskrift för matematikundervisning. ISSN 0348-2723. 3/2021(3), p. 22–27. Full text in Research Archive
• Maugesten, Marianne; Stigberg, Henrik & Stigberg, Susanne Koch (2021). Programmering på ungdomstrinnet. Tangenten - Tidsskrift for matematikkundervisning. ISSN 0802-8192. 3/2021(3), p. 2–7. Full text in Research Archive
• Maugesten, Marianne; Stigberg, Henrik; Stigberg, Susanne Koch & Skajaa, Fredheim Nina (2021). Har utviklet undervisningsopplegg som skal gjøre lærere i ungdomsskolen bedre i programmering. [Journal]. Forskning.no. Full text in Research Archive
• Nordbakke, Monica; Stigberg, Henrik & Johnsen, Morten Andre (2020). Desentralisert kompetanseutvikling (DEKOMP) i Fredrikstad. Full text in Research Archive
• Nordbakke, Monica & Stigberg, Henrik (2019). Programmering i skolen. Full text in Research Archive
• Stigberg, Henrik (2019). Hvordan har programmering blitt introdusert i skolen i Sverige? Full text in Research Archive
• Stigberg, Henrik & Stigberg, Susanne Koch (2019). Teaching Programming and Mathematics in Practice: A Case Study from Swedish Elementary School. Full text in Research Archive
• Stigberg, Henrik (2025). Digital Fabrication for Making Manipulatives in Mathematics Teacher Education: An Inquiry into Digital Fabrication in Mathematics Teacher Education. Universitetet i Agder. ISSN 9788284272979. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Over the last decade, digital fabrication (DF) technologies, such as 3D printers, laser- and vinyl cutters, have become affordable for consumers (Berry et al., 2010), and so-called Maker Spaces and fabrication labs where people meet and make things using DF technologies are becoming more common. These maker communities offer opportunities for schools and teachers to use DF in their practice. There are recent examples of DF being part of the educational curriculum, e.g., as part of project-based learning combining Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) (Fokides & Lagopati, 2024; Harron et al., 2022; Milara et al., 2020; Ulbrich et al., 2020). However, DF is a novel technology in mathematics education in K-12 schools, and few studies have explored how teachers can benefit from this technology (H. Stigberg, 2022). One possible opportunity could be to make manipulatives. Manipulatives are often prescribed as an efficacious teaching strategy in K-12 classrooms (Carbonneau et al., 2013) and are supported by policymaker documents such as the Common Core State Standards - National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2017). However, Marshall and Swan (2008) identified that the primary barriers preventing teachers from using manipulatives are limited access to them (depending on lack of money, organization of the material at school, and lack of time) and challenges related to classroom management (depending on distraction when using them, classroom size and behavior in the classroom) when implementing them. In this project, I inquire into the opportunities that DF could bring to mathematics teacher education to utilize the technologies to make manipulatives that can be successfully integrated into teachers’ practice. Since few teachers have experience with using DF, I inquire into how DF can be introduced to mathematics teachers. Furthermore, I explore how teachers’ experiences may impact their practice. My overarching research questions are: - How can DF be introduced to mathematics teachers for making manipulatives? - What are teachers’ reflections on their ability to change their practice concerning manipulatives after being introduced to DF for making mathematical manipulatives? I employed Community of Inquiry (Jaworski, 2006) as an overarching theory and developmental research as methodology (Freudenthal, 1991) to design and implement two workshop series. The first involved pre-service teachers and took place weekly over a one-month period. The second series was conducted with inservice teachers on a monthly basis over the span of one year. To answer the first research question, I provide a comprehensive account and refer to three units: 1) I developed a model for introducing DF fabrication technologies for making manipulative, disseminated in two articles (H. Stigberg et al., 2024; S. K. Stigberg et al., 2022), 2) a descriptive account of the workshops in the thesis and, 3) tensions faced by pre-service mathematics teachers engaging in digital fabrication, disseminated in a fourth article (H. Stigberg et al., 2022). I answer the second research question about teachers’ reflections on their ability to change their practice concerning manipulatives by: 1) Focusing on how the DF workshops enable teachers to use the created manipulatives in their classrooms (H. Stigberg et al., 2023). 2) Focusing on teachers’ transformative agency and, thereby, their ability to change their practice (article 7 – submitted but not published). In my thesis, I also provide a literature review article (H. Stigberg, 2022) and a theoretical article where I combine Community of Inquiry with transformative agency (H. Stigberg, 2025). My thesis contributes to mathematics teacher education by expanding the theoretical, methodological, and practical knowledge about teachers’ use of DF for making mathematical manipulatives.

View all works in NVA