Michal Ayalon is an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics Education at the University of Haifa, Israel. She completed her Ph.D. in mathematics education at the Weizmann Institute of Science and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford. Her research interests include promoting argumentation in the mathematics classroom, formative assessment, teacher noticing, mathematics teacher education, and the teaching and learning of functions and analysis.

Michal leads several research and development initiatives in mathematics education at the University of Haifa. One ongoing project focuses on promoting mathematical argumentation in the classroom by supporting both students’ engagement in argumentation and teachers’ pedagogical expertise in facilitating it. The project combines the analysis of classroom factors that enable argumentation—such as task design, teaching strategies, and student characteristics—with the development of professional learning tools. A recent strand of this work integrates research on argumentation and teacher noticing through the lens of critical classroom events.

Another project, Mathematics Video-Clip, supports teachers' professional learning about the teaching of mathematical modeling through the analysis of video clips from real classroom lessons. A third project, conducted in collaboration with Yael Boim-Fein, Director of the Institute for Gender Equity in Education, focuses on developing teachers’ professional expertise and awareness to notice gendered critical events during modeling lessons and to implement practices that promote girls’ participation in mathematics classrooms. A fourth project, in collaboration with Esther Levenson (Tel Aviv University), aims to promote accountable mathematical talk in elementary classrooms. The project involves the professional development of math coordinators and joint implementation with teachers in their schools.

Another ongoing project, conducted with Tali Raveh and supported by an ISF grant, investigates the role of executive functions (EFs) in learning middle-school geometry. While EFs are known to correlate with arithmetic, their influence on geometry has remained underexplored. The project uses a multidisciplinary approach to examine how core EFs—inhibition, working memory, and shifting—support geometric thinking. It combines lab-based EF assessments with geometry-specific tasks to identify distinct sources of difficulty among students and explore how these might be addressed in teaching.

In previous years, Michal has led several national projects. The HAKLIM-5 project used “critical events” as a framework for the professional development of prospective secondary-school mathematics teachers. The Math Teachers Edit Teacher Guide project, developed at the Weizmann Institute of Science, focused on involving teachers in editing mathematics teacher guides. She also directed Mesimatica, a collaborative project for designing formative assessment tasks in mathematics.

Michal currently heads the Mathematics Education Department in the Department of Education at the University of Haifa and serves on various academic and national committees. She has published her work in leading international journals and serves as associate editor of the International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education and as a member of the editorial board of Teaching Mathematics and Its Applications. She chaired the 46th Annual Meeting of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME) in 2023 and the Jerusalem Conference of Research in Mathematics Education (JRCME) in 2017. She has twice led the International Conference on Formative Assessment Tasks in Mathematics at the Weizmann Institute and served as co-chair of the working group on formative assessment at the 11th Conference of the International Society for Design and Development in Education (ISDDE). She currently co-leads the working group on formative assessment at the Congress of the European Society for Research in Mathematics Education (CERME).

Michal supervises a vibrant research group of master’s and doctoral students engaged in a range of topics in mathematics education, including teacher noticing, argumentation, formative assessment, and the professional development of teachers and teacher educators. The group offers a collaborative space for shared learning and mutual support, and Michal considers it a privilege to accompany these students on their academic and professional journeys.

Publications in Refereed Journals

Ayalon, M., & Nama, S. (2025). Mathematics teachers’ noticing of argumentation within small groups. ZDM Mathematics Education (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-025-01741-9

Berger-Baraban, R., Ayalon, M., & Biton, Y. (2025). Data-based instruction in mathematics among teachers using an adaptive learning environment. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 21(1).

Ayalon, M., & Nama, S. (2025). Mathematics teachers’ noticing of critical events associated with argumentation. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 1–28.

Ayalon, M., Wilkie, K., & Sweid, R. (2025). Investigating students’ arguments with real-life functional situations throughout a sequence of collaborative activities. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 20(11), em2526.

Hayeen-Halloun, M., & Ayalon, M. (2025). Novice mathematics teacher educators’ noticing of mathematical and pedagogical thinking of pre-service mathematics teachers: an emerging model. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 28, 369-397.28

Nama, S., & Ayalon, M. (2025). Enhancing secondary-school mathematics teachers' ability to notice argumentation through an Argumentation Classroom Situations-based course. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications., pages 369–397 

Ayalon, M. (2024). Noticing of argumentation: a framework for developing and investigating teachers’ proficiency in promoting argumentation in the mathematics classroom. Teaching and Teacher Education, 148, 104683.

Rotem, S., & Ayalon, M. (2024). Constructing coherency levels between pre-service mathematics teachers’ noticing skills: shedding some lights on possible connections. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 27(4), 579–605.

Nama, S., Hayeen-Halloun, M., & Ayalon, M. (2023). Noticing of argumentation: Exploring differences and similarities between mathematics pre-service and in-service secondary teachers. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 72, 101098.

Wilkie, K., Ayalon, M., & Zoabe, S. (2023). Exploring ways to engage disaffected mathematics students through formative assessment processes with rich tasks. Teaching and Teacher Education, 132, 104256.

Nama, S., & Ayalon, M. (2023). Exploring change in secondary mathematics teachers' noticing of argumentation through experiencing peer-assessment strategies. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 27, 915–960.

Wilkie, K., Ayalon, M., & Hajjar, K. (2023). Learning to argue while arguing to learn: Students’ emotional experiences during argumentation for graphing real-life functions. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 19(8), em2312.

Ayalon, M., & Nama, S. (2023). Secondary mathematics teachers’ envisioning of potential argumentation situations in the classroom. Research in Mathematics Education, 26(1), 193–214.

Rotem, S., & Ayalon, M. (2023). Changes in noticing multiple dimensions in classroom situations among pre-service mathematics teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 121, 103932.

Weissman, S., Ayalon, M., & Leikin, R. (2022). Unravelling mathematics tutor’s conceptions of teaching in virtual mathematics school using a goal-action model. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 21(5), 1521–1543.

Ayalon, M., & Rubel, L. H. (2022). Teacher considerations about selecting and sequencing mathematical ideas for a whole-class discussion. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 66, 100958.

Rotem, S., & Ayalon, M. (2022). Building a model for characterizing critical events: Noticing classroom situations using multiple dimensions. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 66, 100947.

Rubel, L. H., Ayalon, M., & Shahbhari, J. A. (2022). Sequencing & selecting solutions towards a whole-class discussion: Who is invited to present which solution? Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 26(2), 185–207.

Ayalon, M., Wilkie, K., & Hajjar, K. (2022). Relating students’ emotions during argumentative discourse to their learning of real-life functional situations. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 110, 23–48.

Rotem, S., & Ayalon, M. (2021). Exploring Israeli high-school graduates' explanations for the spread of the Coronavirus. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 108, 161-181.

Ayalon, M., Nafaliev, E., Levenson, E., & Levi, S. (2020). Prospective and in-service mathematics teachers' attention to a rich task while planning its implementation in the classroom. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 19, 1695–1716.

Ayalon, M., & Wilkie, K. (2020). Investigating peer-assessment strategies for mathematics pre-service teacher learning on formative assessment. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 24, 399–426.

Ayalon, M., & Wilkie, K. (2020). Developing assessment literacy through approximations of practice: Exploring secondary mathematics pre-service teachers developing criteria for a rich quadratics task. Teaching and Teacher Education, 89.

Ayalon, M., & Wilkie, K. (2020). Students’ identification and expression of variables in linear functions tasks in three curriculum contexts. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 22, 1–22.

Ayalon, M., & Wilkie, K. (2019). Exploring secondary students’ conceptualization of functions in three different curriculum contexts. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 100718.

Ayalon, M. (2019). Exploring change in teachers' attention to potential teaching situations of argumentation. Teaching and Teacher Education, 85, 190–203.

Wilkie, K., & Ayalon, M. (2018). Investigating Years 7 to 12 Students’ application of Rate of Change Concepts across different Linear Contexts and Representations. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 30(4), 499–523.

Ayalon, M., & Hershkowitz, R. (2018). Mathematics teachers' attention to potential classroom situations of argumentation. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 49, 163–173.

Watson, A., Ayalon, M., & Lerman, S. (2018). Comparison of students’ understanding of functions in classes following English and Israeli national curricula. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 97, 255–272.

Ayalon, M., Watson, A., & Lerman, S. (2017). Students' conceptualizations of function. Research in Mathematics Education, 19, 1–19.

Evans, S., & Ayalon, M. (2016). Can designed student responses support teachers to interact with students in a productive way? Educational Designer, 3(9).

Ayalon, M., Watson, A., & Lerman, S. (2016). Reasoning about variables in 11 to 18 Year Olds: Informal, schooled and formal expression in learning about functions. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 287, 379–404.

Ayalon, M., Watson, A., & Lerman, S. (2016). Progression towards functions: identifying variables and relations between them. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 14, 1153–1173.

Ayalon, M., & Even, R. (2016). Factors shaping students’ opportunities to engage in classroom argumentative activity. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 14, 575–601.

Ayalon, M., Watson, A., & Lerman, S. (2015). Functions represented as sequential data: relationships between presentation and student responses. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 3, 321–339.

Ayalon, M., & Even, R. (2015). Students’ opportunities to engage in transformational algebraic activity in different beginning algebra topics and classes. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 13(2), 285–307.

Ayalon, M., Lerman, S., & Watson, A. (2014). Graph-matching situations: Some insights from cross years’ survey in the UK. Research in Mathematics Education, 16(1), 73–74.

Ayalon, M., & Even, R. (2010). Mathematics educators' views of mathematics learning and the development of deductive reasoning. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 8, 1131–1154.

Ayalon, M., & Even, R. (2008). Deductive reasoning: In the eye of the beholder. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 69(3), 235–247.

Ayalon, M. (2006). Thinking about logic. For the Learning of Mathematics, 26(2), 28.