Associate Professor Pragashni Padayachee

I am an Associate Professor in Mathematics Education working in the Engineering Support program at the University of Cape Town with 28 years of experience teaching higher education Mathematics. I have completed a BSc in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Natal (Durban) and an honour’s degree in pure Mathematics (UNISA).

Prior to coming to UCT, I worked in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University where I taught various mathematics courses and took the lead in Mathematics Education research. During this time, I completed a PhD, and was honoured with the award for best Teacher of the Faculty of Science in 2015.

My research interests include the study of blended learning environments, the use of technology, and ‘assessment for learning’ to enhance the teaching and learning of Mathematics. In addition, I have been involved in collaborative research projects, and have a keen research interest in mathematics education especially with regards to setting up support initiates that enable student participation and student success in mathematics at higher education. I have presented research at international and local conferences, published in various journals, and have supervised master’s and PhD students in mathematics Education. 

My research can be found at https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4bHen-AAAAAJ&hl=en.

I am currently the chairperson of the USAf Teaching and Learning Mathematics Community of Practice. In this role I engage with colleagues from the 26 South African higher education institutions and coordinate USAf’s two national projects on “mathematics teacher development” and “the first-year mathematics student experience”.

Contact: pragashni.padayachee@uct.ac.za