Student - College of Education

Ye chan Choi

M.Ed. in Learning Design, Innovation and Technology, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2025
M.A. in Mathematics Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, 2023
B.S. in Mathematics, Sewanee: The University of the South, 2013

Email: yc32743@my.utexas.edu

Yechan Choi was born in South Korea, raised in Uganda and Kenya, worked in Japan, and is currently studying in the United States. Throughout his multicultural experiences, he developed his passion and interest in mathematics education, as he discovered that it is an area of struggle for both students and teachers in many countries. He spent 7 years teaching mathematics and developing mathematics curriculum at Waseda International Christian School in Tokyo, Japan and have decided to pursue higher education to more effectively contribute to renovating and globalizing mathematics education.

Yechan Choi is interested in understanding how different approaches to problem solving affects students' proficency and motivation in mathematics. Many students in countries like Uganda lack resources to, and therefore problem solving opportunities, to develop their mathematical proficiency, while many students in Korea and Japan who are often considered to be proficient in mathematics lack the motivation or interest in mathematics. How should mathematical problems be posed in these different international contexts so that students can develop both proficiency and motivation in mathematics?

Cathery Yeh (Supervisor)
Dr.Yeh's research examines the intersections of race, language, and disability to provide a more nuanced analysis of the constructions of ability in mathematics classrooms and mathematics education systems. Her scholarship centers on partnerships with schools and communities to expand educational leadership to create equitable learning environments, with particular attention to students, families, and communities who have been historically marginalized in education.