Trends in Mathematics Education Research

(The example of Algebra Education)

S. Lavanya

Lecturer in Mathematics, Vaagdevi Degree and PG College, Hanamkonda, Warangal, TS.

*Corresponding Author E-mail:

ABSTRACT:

This paper surveys some recent trends in mathematics education, by examining some aspects of evolution of the study of the teaching and learning of algebra. The field of research in mathematics is now growing fast and too large to make strong claims about trends and findings. Algebra education is a good choice because it has been particularly active field more importantly; algebra education is a good choice because many of the major concerns of mathematics education as a whole also impact on algebra education. This paper begins with a short overview placing mathematics education as a discipline within other disciplines, moves on to consider the major recent influences on algebra education and how mathematical educators analyze problems by looking at several instances of the growth of algebraic thinking.

KEYWORDS: Mathematics Education, Learning of Algebra, Short Overview, Influences, Practical Disciplines, Stretching back Millennia.

INTRODUCTION:

This paper begins with a short overview placing mathematics education as a discipline within other disciplines, moves on to consider the major recent influences on algebra education and how mathematical educators analyze problems by looking at several instances of the growth of algebraic thinking.

Discipline of mathematics education:-

A good education in mathematics benefits both the individual and society. Mathematics education as essentially practical disciplines, where the underlying goal is always to promote better learning of mathematics by students. Mathematics education sits as a discipline between mathematics on one hand and a range of other disciplines (such as psychology, human development, sociology, etc..,) from which draws research findings and concepts. As society changes as technology changes and as the education system changes, the environment for learning mathematics can be fundamentally altered, which affects the directions of research.

Mathematics concerns although the agenda increasingly internally driven.

Some results describe in a very deep way the basic interaction of the human brain and mathematical ideas. As the oldest human study, stretching back millennia, mathematics retains an identifiable core of fundamental process by which it is developed. One example relevant to algebra and particular to the examples below is the way in which many concepts have their roots in action and process, which became encapsulated as mathematical objects, after three decades of work identifying some of these fundamental processes. Algebra education can go forward on a strong base.

Mathematics education should, for me, aim to promote better learning of mathematics for all. Its success should on the long term. It can empower individuals in everyday life and can strengthen more general values such as personal autonomy and the value of applying logical thought to issues provides personal, financial, economical benefits.

Trends in Algebra Education:

Trends in algebra education research as in other areas of Mathematics are influenced by factors external and internal to the field. A group of external factors have led to the ‘massification’ of secondary school education. Whereby it is now the norm in many countries that most students complete secondary education and this education includes algebra.

Algebra is seen as a ‘gateway’ to higher mathematics because it provides the language in which generalizations are expressed. Algebra is important for the production of knowledge workers as well as being important for social equity. But algebra is difficult and instead of being a gate way. We need algebra with mathematical integrity that is more interesting and meaningful, more related to student lives and which is also more learnable.

Traditionally algebra had been mainly seen as symbol manipulation, but most graduates of such curricular have no appreciation of why this knowledge is important. The new technologies have also impinged very strongly on algebra education research. As communication technologies, these impact on all of education. But as information technologies these impact centrally on the way in which mathematicians done.

We need to be very clear about goals for algebra education, about what it means to understand and to develop. Common technology for graphing made one of the most important changes to date since scientific calculators. In schools students have access to graphics calculators or computer graphing function. So they can move readily between the symbolic expression, table of values and the graph.

Teaching might be improved by using technology, adopting the best approaches from around the world, by giving students a start to algebra, through better teaching education.

Algebra education research is also impacted by trends that are internal to the educational research community, that algebra education is something common around the world and are surprised to see the variations.

In fact the dimensions are known to be large on all dimensions, the degree of formalism, the amount of manipulation, the place of functional thinking, the use of technology, the age of introduction etc. There are many successful approaches for example at a similar age Russian Students may be solving the complicated inequality { x:|1-|1-x|| <1/2, x E R } and Australian Students may be fitting a straight line graph to a scatter plot of data of the students arm spans against their heights, important intellectual movements from other disciplines also impact on algebra education.

All the examples will illustrate the changes that student need to make as they move from learning arithmetic to learning algebra. Algebra requires firm understanding of operations. Re conceptualizing arithmetic to stress its algebra nature. Arithmetic or Algebra thinking in solving equations.

Moreover, Mathematics educators have to develop this viewpoint so they can see mathematics from the points of students of many different abilities.

REFERENCES:

1. Stacey.K. and Mac Gregor. M, Learning the algebraic method of solving problems.

2. Mac Gregor. M, Goals and content of an Algebra Curriculum for the compulsory.

3. Tall. D, Thomas. M, Davis. G, Gray. E and Simpson. A, Journal of Mathematical Behaviour.

4. M. Kendal, The future if the Teaching and Learning of Algebra.

5. Subramaniam. K, Naming practices that support reasoning about and with expressions.

Received on 25.09.2017 Modified on 22.11.2017

Research J. Science and Tech. 2017; 9(4): 633-634.

DOI: 10.5958/2349-2988.2017.00107.3