Ida Friestad Pedersen

Ida Friestad Pedersen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. She teaches beginner mathematics courses and supervises master's and PhD students in subject didactics. She serves as the program chair for Associate Professor in Science grades 8-13, demonstrating her commitment to teacher education across multiple educational levels.

Her research focuses on mathematics didactics, with special emphasis on exploratory mathematics teaching, formative assessment, student-active teaching methods, and the transition from school to university. Her work bridges theory and practice, connecting classroom observations with educational research to improve mathematics instruction. She investigates how inquiry-based approaches affect students' mathematical beliefs and motivation, and examines the challenges students face when transitioning between educational levels.

Her recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on the SUM project, which examines inquiry-based mathematics teaching and its effects on both teachers and students. Her research shows how exploratory teaching methods can be effectively implemented, how to assess students' mathematical beliefs and motivation, and how to improve the continuity between secondary school and university mathematics education.

Her scientific contributions include:

• Development of survey instruments for assessing mathematical beliefs and motivation
• Analysis of exploratory teaching methods and their implementation
• Research on the transition challenges between school and university mathematics
• Studies on formative assessment and student-active learning approaches
• Investigations into students' choices of learning resources in STEM education

Dr. Pedersen is an active member of the Mathematics Didactics research group and the Science Didactics in Higher Education group at UiT, where she contributes to advancing research in mathematics education. Her teaching portfolio includes courses for engineering students (Mat-1052, Mat-1060, Mat-2050), teacher education (MAT-6101), and preparatory programs (Tek-0002), demonstrating her versatility across different educational contexts and student populations.