Starting with Woodworth and Thorndike's classical experiment published in 1901, major periods in mathematics education throughout 20th century and on into the current century are reviewed in terms of competing epistemological and psychological paradigms that were operating within as well as across the major periods. The periods were marked by…

One of the definitions of biodiversity, which has many definitions, is the differences between living things or the diversity of life forms in the world. According to another definition, biodiversity is a group of wholes formed by genes, species, ecosystems and ecological events in a region. The importance of biodiversity is gradually increasing…

Mathematical knowledge of pre-service teachers is currently "under the microscope" and the subject of research. This paper proposes a different approach to teacher content knowledge based on the "big ideas" of mathematics and the connections that exist within and between them. It is suggested that these "big ideas"…

This article is the text from a talk given to the conference The Primary Curriculum: English, mathematics and science in 2014 on 27 February 2013 at Canterbury Hall, London, organised by the National Association for Primary Education (NAPE). In it the author argues that the current consultation process is flawed as there is an ideological divide…

This is a record of the proceedings of the 30th annual conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA). The theme of the conference is "Mathematics: Essential research, essential practice." The theme draws attention to the importance of developing and maintaining links between research and practice and…

In the last two decades, mathematics teachers have shown a great deal of interest in how students learn mathematics through journal writing. I have also used journals in mathematics classes for the last five years. Based on the analysis of more than 1800 journal entries written by approximately 200 students in the last five years, I conclude that…

Overall goals and trends in mathematical education are discussed, with emphasis on the question "why teach mathematics?" In an introductory chapter, the philosophy of schooling in various countries is considered, with the suggestion that reasons for teaching mathematics are political as well as philosophical. The historical role of…

The article describes the development of the Estonian school mathematics syllabus in 1990-2005 on the context of changes in the national general education curriculum. The major steps of the development, the background and the main problems are observed: project of the Estonian mathematics syllabus from 1989; first mathematics syllabuses…

This document contains the following papers on issues related to mathematics in technology and teacher education: "A Case for Strong Conceptualization in Technology Enhanced Mathematics Instruction" (Michael L. Connell and Delwyn L. Harnisch); "Faculty/Student Collaboration in Education and Math--Using the Web To Improve Student…

This volume contains the proceedings of the International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Education (ICTME) held at the Lebanese American University in July, 2000. The conference included a panel discussion on technology and the new curriculum, hands-on workshops, and focus group discussion centered around the themes of the effects of…

Participants in a teacher workshop compared these two approaches to learning outcomes in adult numeracy: (1) teaching mathematical skills and (2) using and applying mathematics from real life. The first approach was illustrated by an Ontario, Canada, program based on traditional school math, whose outcomes are skill-based and are the following:…

The paper will examine the role of technological tools, especially computers, as facilitators and non-facilitators in problem-solving in mathematics education. Examples of problem tasks will be given in each case. The paper will focus on over-generalizations made regarding the power of technology in mathematical problem solving. These over…

The use of the term "world class standards" grows out of the rhetoric surrounding the National Education Goals of 1990. The perspective of the mathematical sciences education community on world class standards is offered through a description of their efforts on behalf of reform of mathematics education and a discussion of what such…

This paper presents the eight major categories of recommendations made by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM's) booklet "An Agenda for Action," that are considered components of programs designed to improve mathematics education, and as a by-product, raise mathematics scores of pupils on standardized tests. The three…

This paper is based on a 2-year research and development project undertaken at the School of Education, University of Leeds (England). The aims of the project were to work with 25 early years practitioners from both education and care traditions using an action research model to identify what activities in their settings were defined as literacy…