Future themes of mathematics education research an international survey before and during the pandemic

• Published in: Educational studies in mathematics Vol. 107; no. 1; pp. 1 - 24
• Main Authors: Bakker, Arthur, Cai, Jinfa, Zenger, Linda
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Science + Business Media 01.05.2021; Springer Netherlands; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Affective Behavior; COVID-19; Education; Educational aspects; Educational Change; Educational Research; Educational Trends; Epidemics; Equal Education; Faculty Development; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical research; Mathematics; Mathematics Education; Pandemics; Professional development; Single subject research; Student Evaluation; Study and teaching; Surveys; Teaching Methods; Technology assessment; Technology Uses in Education; COVID-19; Research agenda; Pandemic; Grand challenges; Mathematics education research
• ISSN: 0013-1954; 1573-0816; 1573-0816
• DOI: 10.1007/s10649-021-10049-w

Before the pandemic (2019), we asked: On what themes should research in mathematics education focus in the coming decade? The 229 responses from 44 countries led to eight themes plus considerations about mathematics education research itself. The themes can be summarized as teaching approaches, goals, relations to practices outside mathematics education, teacher professional development, technology, affect, equity, and assessment. During the pandemic (November 2020), we asked respondents: Has the pandemic changed your view on the themes of mathematics education research for the coming decade? If so, how? Many of the 108 respondents saw the importance of their original themes reinforced (45), specified their initial responses (43), and/or added themes (35) (these categories were not mutually exclusive). Overall, they seemed to agree that the pandemic functions as a magnifying glass on issues that were already known, and several respondents pointed to the need to think ahead on how to organize education when it does not need to be online anymore. We end with a list of research challenges that are informed by the themes and respondents’reflections on mathematics education research.