Notices of the American Mathematical Society
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Noticing Mathematics Education
Mathematicians have long had an interest in mathematics education. Felix Klein, who modernized the study of geometry and topology through his Erlangen Program, collaborated with engineers and high school teachers to improve the mathematical education of teachers. Hans Freudenthal, who laid the foundations for stable homotopy theory, established one of the now most well-known journals in mathematics education research, Educational Studies in Mathematics. The educational questions that motivated mathematicians such as Klein and Freudenthal are enduring; their answers must be continually renewed to account for contemporary context and knowledge. How do students and teachers develop mathematical reasoning and problem solving, in younger grades through undergraduate education and beyond? What do we know about fostering students’ and teachers’ affinity for mathematics and connection to broader mathematical communities? How is technology used in mathematics learning and teaching (be it the calculating machines of Klein’s time, slide rules, calculators, computers, or machine learning)? These questions are existential for our field. The existence of future mathematicians depends on nurturing students in the mathematical sciences. How any individual mathematician addresses these questions bears on their teaching and communication with younger generations.
Key issues in mathematics education across levels at this moment include the nature of mathematical argumentation and computation, how these are represented in classrooms and curricula so as to complement rather than replace each other, how to connect mathematical thinking to physical and social phenomena, and in ways that equitably broaden access to mathematics. These issues are already faced by many mathematics departments. Characterizing and enacting equitable teaching practices is a crucial area of research and departmental change. Faculty wonder how new technology influences communication and creativity. These issues are also encountered by high schools, because higher education policy shapes secondary education policy. What influences high school education then influences education in younger grades.
It is my goal as a Notices associate editor to publish articles that expand the community’s vision of practice and policy of contemporary mathematics education, including the ways we interpret and respond to educational events in our environments. Those of us in the mathematical sciences have much to learn about and contribute to mathematics education, be it in our own programs, courses, majors, departmental policies, or in the mathematical education of teachers. I encourage submissions that raise questions with precision, articulate findings thoughtfully, and address issues of mathematics education with care. In writing about mathematics education in the Notices, authors should strive to recognize and see past false dichotomies, cite research and personal experience with discernment, and discuss people and their contributions with respect and civility.
Yvonne Lai is the Milton E. Mohr Professor of Mathematics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her email address is yvonnexlai@unl.edu.
Article DOI: 10.1090/noti3071
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Photo of Yvonne Lai is courtesy of Raleigh Cooper.