RESEARCH IN MATHEMATİCS EDUCATION2009-2010

Karadeniz Technical UniversityFatih Faculty of Education

Prof.Dr. Adnan Baki

The Process of Research

A) What is research about?Generally research consists of three steps:

1. Posing a question

2. Collecting the data to answer to the question

3. Presenting answers to the question

B) Why is research important• Why we are doing a research?

• Why we are conducting a research?

• Why we need it?

Research is important for four reasons:1. Research increases our knowledge

2. Research improves our practice

3. Research informs policy debates

4. Research helps to develop conceptual skills

Why is research important?.......

1. Research increases our knowledge

• How research increases our knowledge?

• How research adds new things to our knowledge?

• What specific contributions can research make to our knowledge?

A research report can;address gaps in knowledge

• indicate inadequacies and lack of information• replicate knowledge by testing existing results• expand knowledge by extending research to new ideas• broadening our perspectives by adding different voices of individuals to the body knowledge• inform and imply new practice by developing new ideas

Why is research important?.......

2. Research improves our practice A teacher first should decide what needs to be implemented in the classroom, then teacher should examine

alternative lines of research and finally decide which research might help accomplished what needs to be done

Step 1: Decide what you want to do in your classroomStep 2: Find out what research has to say

Research Line

A B C D

Talking with teachers on their practice and curriculum

Interview

Teachers’ attitudes towards new curriculum.

Questionnaire

Following teachers through their classroom practices and getting their reflections on their practices

Observation-Ethnography

Studying teachers in different settings and comparing them

Comperative

Step 3: Decide which of the lines of research might help you

Why is research important?.......

3. Research informs policy debates

Of course, to be useful for policy makers, research needs to have clear results including;

Welfare and its effect on student’s learning Implications for families, teachers, principals, ministrators Voices of proponents and opponents

Why is research important?.......

4. Research helps to develop conceptual skills and research skills

What are research skills? These skills are:• Asking critical questions• Thinking critically• Solving problems• Making junctures• Testing hypothesis• Making decision• Reporting results

• The process of research helps individuals develop these skills. When you conduct a research this process requires you to use your conceptual skills.

• What are the conceptual skills? The skills are:• To make sense of data• To be able to analyze and interpret data analytically• To identify complex relationships among ideas• To synthesize disparate ideas

Why is research important?.......

• Think of the many things that can be investigated in mathematics education; 1. How do students learn mathematics?—their maturity, their intellectual ability, their

past experiences and performances in mathematics, their preferred learning styles, their attitude toward mathematics, and their social adjustment.

2. How do teachers teach mathematics? —their own understanding of mathematics, their beliefs relative to both mathematics itself and how it is learned, their preferred styles of instruction and interaction with students, their views on the role of assessment, their professionalism, and their effectiveness as a teacher of mathematics.

3. The content of mathematics and its organization into a curriculum —its difficulty level, its scope and position in possible sequences, its required prerequisite knowledge, and its separation into skills, concepts, and contextual applications.

4. The pedagogical models for presenting and experiencing this mathematical content — the use of optimal instructional techniques, the design of instructional materials, the use of multimedia and computing technologies, the use of manipulatives, the use of classroom grouping schemes, the influences of learning psychology, teacher requirements, the role of parents and significant others, and the integration of alternative assessment techniques.

Why is research important?.......

• All of these points in mathematics education need to be investigated by careful research.

• At best, we can expect that research in mathematics education to be helpful in these ways:

It can inform us (e.g., about new pedagogical or assessment techniques).

It can educate us (e.g., about the pros/cons of using different grouping models).

It can answer questions (e.g., about the potential impact of professional development models for teachers).

It can prompt new questions (e.g., about the impact of using the Internet to make real-world connections).

Why is research important?.......

It can create reflection and discussion (e.g., about the beliefs that students and teachers hold toward mathematics).

It can challenge what we currently do as educators (e.g., about our programs for accommodating students with differing ability levels or learning styles).

It can clarify educational situations (e.g., about how assessment can informinstruction).

It can help make educational decisions and educational policy (e.g., aboutstudent access to calculators or performance benchmarks).