Article Review
Purposes and methods of research in
mathematics education
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| from dsu.edu |
Schoenfeld, A. (2000). Purposes and methods
of research in mathematics education. Notices
of The AMS, 47(6), 641-649.
The author
of this article tries to lay out some of the important perspectives in
mathematics education and looks at the background information regarding its
nature of inquiry. The author tries to explore some of the issues regarding
mathematics education and starts by looking at the purpose of research in this
education. Research would prove that there is a great difference between
education and mathematics in many respects (Schoenfeld, 2000).
The author
points out two main purposes of conducting research in mathematics education.
The first one states that research is useful in the sense that it fosters
understanding to the nature of mathematics teaching, learning and thinking. The
second purpose of research is to use it to improve instructions in mathematics.
Both are related and equally important.
The
importance of research in mathematics education is diverse. One of the benefits
of research is in the provision of theoretical perspectives for understanding
the learning and teaching processes. It is also important in that it gives an
understanding of such aspects of cognitions as the students’ abilities to
understand or not understand concepts of limit and function.
The author
argues that the results are rarely definitive but suggestive. They are not
meant to provide proof but provide cumulative evidence that could be considered
beyond reasonable doubt. A scientific approach could be applied but one should
be careful not to overuse it. Experimental methods are not of great importance
but what counts is the use of reasoning and standard of evidence.
Some
theories have proposed that if students were to be given an introduction to information
that they are to read, and information that gives them an idea of what is to
follow, their comprehension of the subject would improve significantly.
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