Mathematics Curriculum in School Education: Advancing Research and Practice from an International Perspective
Mathematics curriculum, often a focus in education reforms, has not received extensive research attention until recently. To advance relevant research and practice in mathematics curriculum, this book is designed to survey, synthesize, and extend current
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Abstract Mathematics curriculum, often a focus in education reforms, has not received extensive research attention until recently. To advance relevant research and practice in mathematics curriculum, this book is designed to survey, synthesize, and extend current research development on mathematics curriculum in different education systems. In this introduction chapter, we highlight the background of this book project, its purposes, and what can be learned from reading this book. Keywords Curriculum research · Education system · International perspective · Mathematics curriculum · School education · School mathematics
Introduction School education is organized to provide students with structured learning experiences. Mathematics curriculum, when viewed as an outline of teaching and learning requirements for content and performance, is put in place to structure students’ learning experiences in school education (Schmidt et al. 1997). In order to improve students’ learning experiences and outcomes, mathematics curriculum and its changes have often been a main focus in large educational reforms in the history of mathematics education in many education systems. Ironically, curriculum has not been a focus in mathematics education research until recent years. For example, the first Handbook on Mathematics Teaching and Learning (Grouws 1992) published by the U.S. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in 1992 does not have a chapter on mathematics curriculum. However, the curriculum issue has attracted more and more attention with the release of NCTM Standards (1989, 2000) and the U.S. National Science Foundation’s efforts in promoting and evaluating new
Y. Li (B) Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA e-mail: [email protected] G. Lappan Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA Y. Li, G. Lappan (eds.), Mathematics Curriculum in School Education, Advances in Mathematics Education, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-7560-2_1, © Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014
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curriculum material development over the years. Consequently, the Second Handbook on Mathematics Teaching and Learning (Lester 2007) contains one chapter specifically related to curriculum (see Stein et al. 2007). Given the importance of mathematics curriculum in school education, it is not surprising that mathematics curriculum and its impact on teaching and learning have received increasingly more research attention both in the United States and internationally (e.g., Leung and Li 2010; Li and Kulm 2009; Schmidt et al. 1997; Senk and Thompson 2003). For example, the Third International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS) examined curriculum materials and specified the process of curriculum transformation as a guideline to conceptualize the relationship between curriculum analysis and students’ learning (e.g., Schmidt et al. 1997, 2002). While students’ performance was viewed as the achieved curriculum, what is provided in curriculum guidelines was treated as the intended curriculum. The results obtaine
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