Mathematics And Mathematics Education

This open access book features a selection of articles written by Erich Ch. Wittmann between 1984 to 2019, which shows how the “design science conception” has been continuously developed over a number of decades. The articles not only describe this conception in general terms, but also demonstrate various substantial learning environments that serve as typical examples. In terms of teacher education, the book provides clear information on how to combine (well-understood) mathematics and methods courses to benefit of teachers. The role of mathematics in mathematics education is often explicitly and implicitly reduced to the delivery of subject matter that then has to be selected and made palpable for students using methods imported from psychology, sociology, educational research and related disciplines. While these fields have made significant contributions to mathematics education in recent decades, it cannot be ignored that mathematics itself, if well understood, provides essential knowledge for teaching mathematics beyond the pure delivery of subject matter. For this purpose, mathematics has to be conceived of as an organism that is deeply rooted in elementary operations of the human mind, which can be seamlessly developed to higher and higher levels so that the full richness of problems of various degrees of difficulty, and different means of representation, problem-solving strategies, and forms of proof can be used in ways that are appropriate for the respective level. This view of mathematics is essential for designing learning environments and curricula, for conducting empirical studies on truly mathematical processes and also for implementing the findings of mathematics education in teacher education, where it is crucial to take systemic constraints into account.

Developing Research in Mathematics Education is the first book in the series New Perspectives on Research in Mathematics Education, to be produced in association with the prestigious European Society for Research in Mathematics Education. This inaugural volume sets out broad advances in research in mathematics education which have accumulated over the last 20 years through the sustained exchange of ideas and collaboration between researchers in the field. An impressive range of contributors provide specifically European and complementary global perspectives on major areas of research in the field on topics that include: the content domains of arithmetic, geometry, algebra, statistics, and probability; the mathematical processes of proving and modeling; teaching and learning at specific age levels from early years to university; teacher education, teaching and classroom practices; special aspects of teaching and learning mathematics such as creativity, affect, diversity, technology and history; theoretical perspectives and comparative approaches in mathematics education research. This book is a fascinating compendium of state-of-the-art knowledge for all mathematics education researchers, graduate students, teacher educators and curriculum developers worldwide.

This edited volume will help educators better analyze methodological and practical tools designed to aid classroom instruction. It features papers that explore the need to create a system in order to fully meet the uncertainties and developments of modern educational phenomena. These have emerged due to the abundance of digital resources and new forms of collective work. The collected papers offer new perspectives to a rising field of research known as the Documentational Approach to Didactics. This framework was first created by the editors of this book. It seeks to develop a deeper understanding of mathematics teaching expertise. Readers will gain insight into how to meet the theoretical questions brought about by digitalization. These include: how to analyze teachers’ work when they prepare for their teaching, how to conceptualize the relationships between individual and collective work, and how to follow the related processes over the long term. The contributors also provide a comparative view in terms of contrasting selected phenomena across different educational cultures and education systems. For instance, they consider how differences in curriculum resources are available to teachers and how teachers make use of them to shape instruction. Coverage also considers the extent to which teachers make use of additional material, particularly those available through the global marketplace on the Internet. This book builds on works from the Re(s)sources 2018 Conference, Understanding teachers’ work through their interactions with resources for teaching, held in Lyon, France.

This book that explores the mathematics education of Latinos/as in 13 original research studies. Each chapter represents research that grounds mathematics instruction for Latinos/as in the resources to be found in culture and language. By inverting the deficit perspective, this volume redresses the shortcomings found in the previous literature on Latino/a learners. Each study frames language (e.g. bilingualism) not as an obstacle to learning, but as a resource for mathematical reasoning. Other chapters explore the notion of cultural variation not as a liability but as a tool for educators to build upon in the teaching of mathematics. Specifically, the book reframes culture as a focus on the practices, objects, inscriptions, or people that connect mathematical concepts to student thinking and experiences, both in and out of school. The book's four sections divide the research: The first section of the book focuses on mathematic learning in classrooms, specifically exploring bilingual, Latino/a students; the second section explores Latino/a learners in communities, including the role parents can play in advancing learning; the third section includes chapters focused on teacher professional growth; the final section concerns the assessment (and mis-assessment) of Latino/a learners. The research shared in this volume provides ample evidence that mathematics educators who choose to ignore language or culture in their pedagogy risk shortchanging their Latino/a students.

This open access book, inspired by the ICME 13 topic study group “Affect, beliefs and identity in mathematics education”, presents the latest trends in research in the area. Following an introduction and a survey chapter providing a concise overview of the state-of-art in the field of mathematics-related affect, the book is divided into three main sections: motivation and values, engagement, and identity in mathematics education. Each section comprises several independent chapters based on original research, as well as a reflective commentary by an expert in the area. Collectively, the chapters present a rich methodological spectrum, from narrative analysis to structural equation modelling. In the final chapter, the editors look ahead to future directions in the area of mathematics-education-related affect. It is a timely resource for all those interested in the interaction between affect and mathematics education.

What does it mean to know mathematics? How does meaning in mathematics education connect to common sense or to the meaning of mathematics itself? How are meanings constructed and communicated and what are the dilemmas related to these processes? There are many answers to these questions, some of which might appear to be contradictory. Thus understanding the complexity of meaning in mathematics education is a matter of huge importance. There are twin directions in which discussions have developed—theoretical and practical—and this book seeks to move the debate forward along both dimensions while seeking to relate them where appropriate. A discussion of meaning can start from a theoretical examination of mathematics and how mathematicians over time have made sense of their work. However, from a more practical perspective, anybody involved in teaching mathematics is faced with the need to orchestrate the myriad of meanings derived from multiple sources that students develop of mathematical knowledge. This book presents a wide variety of theoretical reflections and research results about meaning in mathematics and mathematics education based on long-term and collective reflection by the group of authors as a whole. It is the outcome of the work of the BACOMET (BAsic COmponents of Mathematics Education for Teachers) group who spent several years deliberating on this topic. The ten chapters in this book, both separately and together, provide a substantial contribution to clarifying the complex issue of meaning in mathematics education. This book is of interest to researchers in mathematics education, graduate students of mathematics education, under graduate students in mathematics, secondary mathematics teachers and primary teachers with an interest in mathematics.

This book includes 18 peer-reviewed papers from nine countries, originally presented in a shorter form at TSG 25 The Role of History of Mathematics in Mathematics Education, as part of ICME-13 during. It also features an introductory chapter, by its co-editors, on the structure and main points of the book with an outline of recent developments in exploring the role of history and epistemology in mathematics education. It serves as a valuable contribution in this domain, by making reports on recent developments in this field available to the international educational community, with a special focus on relevant research results since 2000. The 18 chapters of the book are divided into five interrelated parts that underlie the central issues of research in this domain: 1. Theoretical and conceptual frameworks for integrating history and epistemology in mathematics in mathematics education; 2. Courses and didactical material: Design, implementation and evaluation; 3. Empirical investigations on implementing history and epistemology in mathematics education; 4. Original historical sources in teaching and learning of and about mathematics; 5. History and epistemology of mathematics: Interdisciplinary teaching and sociocultural aspects. This book covers all levels of education, from primary school to tertiary education, with a particular focus on teacher education. Additionally, each chapter refers to and/or is based on empirical research, in order to support, illuminate, clarify and evaluate key issues, main questions, and conjectured theses raised by the authors or in the literature on the basis of historical-epistemological or didactical-cognitive arguments.

This book examines the critical roles and effects of mathematics education. The exposition draws from the author’s forty-year mathematics career, integrating his research in the psychology of mathematical thinking into an overview of the true definition of math. The intention for the reader is to undergo a “corrective” experience, obtaining a clear message on how mathematical thinking tools can help all people cope with everyday life. For those who have struggled with math in the past, the book also aims to clarify that math learning difficulties are likely a result of improper pedagogy as opposed to any lack of intelligence on the part of the student. This personal treatise will be of interest to a variety of readers, from mathematics teachers and those who train them to those with an interest in education but who may lack a solid math background.