What Is Mathematics Education?Mathematics education is the field of research devoted to the teaching and learning of mathematics. Among other things, mathematics education researchers study how people learn mathematics, how mathematics is taught, and even what it means to “know” mathematics. Like all areas of research that involve people, mathematics education can get very complicated. In addition to mathematics, mathematics education is connected to many other disciplines, including epistemology, psychology, sociology, and neuroscience.As a distinct academic field, mathematics education is quite young - about a hundred years old. However, it has intellectual roots, from other fields, going back at least as long ago as the time of Socrates. If you want to find out more about mathematics education research, a good place to start is the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ Research in Mathematics Education Website. Some interesting books about teaching and learning mathematics, available in the Aquinas College Woodhouse Library, are:
National Research Council (1999). How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School (Bransford, J.D., Brown, A.L., & Cocking, R.R., Eds.). Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press. Stigler, J.W. & Hiebert, J. (1999). The Teaching Gap. New York: The Free Press. Back to Aquinas College Mathematics Education Page
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