University of Reading cookie policy

We use cookies on reading.ac.uk to improve your experience, monitor site performance and tailor content to you

Read our cookie policy to find out how to manage your cookie settings

Dr Natthapoj Vincent Trakulphadetkrai (Vincent) is a Lecturer in Primary Mathematics Education at the University of Reading.

Vincent's research interests are centred around the use of storytelling to help enrich mathematics teaching and learning.

"Until recently, there had been only a handful of research and resources relating to teaching mathematics through storytelling beyond the pre-school level. I was really intrigued as to how this teaching strategy could be applied at the primary school level. I then started trawling the Internet to buy mathematical story picture books for that age range and conducted research on this topic."

Vincent wanted to share his passion in this mathematics teaching approach with teachers and parents globally, so he created the non-profit MathsThroughStories.org website.

Since its launch in 2017, it has been viewed over 300,000 times by more than 60,000 teachers and parents from over 180 countries.

The website has over 500 recommendations for mathematical stories, covering over 40 mathematical concepts for learners aged three to 18.

Additionally, the website also offers book reviews, lesson ideas, tips on writing mathematical stories, interviews with mathematical story authors as well as research highlights.

One UK primary school teacher commented that:

"I have spent all my budget on buying mathematical story picture books as recommended by the MathsThroughStories.org website, and the children in my school love our creative and purposeful maths story-inspired curriculum. I have also recently shared my maths story-inspired lesson idea with other teachers and parents on the website."

Vincent works with colleagues in different countries including, Ireland, Israel, Australia and Taiwan to investigate the extent to which teachers in these countries are aware of this underutilised mathematics teaching strategy.

Vincent hopes his research will help him to advise policy makers on how best to encourage teachers to adopt this teaching strategy more widely.

Students at the Institute of Education benefit from learning from a leading expert like Vincent as he teaches on teacher training programmes and supervises postgraduate research students.