This book provides a unique international comparative perspective on diverse issues and practices in mathematics education between and among the US and five high-performing TIMSS education systems, Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. The book offers multiple perspectives on the important factors that contribute to mathematics teaching and learning in different educational systems and cultural contexts. Using large scale data generated by numerous international comparative studies, the book analyzes and provides context for various methodological perspectives. The book raises compelling questions and issues for mathematics education researchers, leading to a critical examination of what can be learned from other education systems. Authors address four major research perspectives by critically examining cross-national similarities and differences, such as research on the influence of curriculum on student learning; research on institutional systems of mathematics teacher education; research on improving teacher knowledge and pedagogical approaches; and research using large-scale data. This collection of perspectives serves as a foundation for reviewing and analyzing the international comparative studies introduced in the book.

It argues that the main purpose of educational research is to improve student learning, and that international comparative studies are no exception.

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. The book presents the Proceedings of the 13th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME-13) and is based on the presentations given at the 13th International Congress on Mathematical Education (ICME-13). ICME-13 took place from 24th- 31st July 2016 at the University of Hamburg in Hamburg (Germany). The congress was hosted by the Society of Didactics of Mathematics (Gesellschaft für Didaktik der Mathematik - GDM) and took place under the auspices of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI). ICME-13 brought together about 3.500 mathematics educators from 105 countries, additionally 250 teachers from German speaking countries met for specific activities. Directly before the congress activities were offered for 450 Early Career Researchers. The proceedings give a comprehensive overview on the current state-of-the-art of the discussions on mathematics education and display the breadth and deepness of current research on mathematical teaching-and-learning processes. The book introduces the major activities of ICME-13, namely articles from the four plenary lecturers and two plenary panels, articles from the five ICMI awardees, reports from six national presentations, three reports from the thematic afternoon devoted to specific features of ICME-13. Furthermore, the proceedings contain descriptions of the 54 Topic Study Groups, which formed the heart of the congress and reports from 29 Discussion Groups and 31 Workshops. The additional important activities of ICME-13, namely papers from the invited lecturers, will be presented in the second volume of the proceedings.

Educational practices have rapidly changed in the last few decades, especially in how exchanges of information and learning are delivered and processed. Yet, while the field of international comparative studies has grown, there has not been an extensive study on the relationship between educational practices, students, and how practitioners are prepared and trained. This handbook explores international educational practices and behaviours through new research and a review of existing research, with chapters spread across six parts: Part I: Introduction to Research Practices in Comparative Studies of Education Part II: Research Methods Part III: Policy Transfer Research through International Comparisons Part IV: Use of Student time in Formal and Informal Settings Part V: School Practices from Early Childhood through Secondary School Part VI: Conclusion - Lessons from Large Scale Studies

This volume provides an in-depth, comparative examination of how primary mathematics education is influenced by national education reform, policy, local resources, and culture in three different countries. By drawing on first-hand observations and interviews, as well as analysis of policy documents and learning resources, the book considers the viability of transferring best practices in primary mathematics education across global contexts. Three diverse countries – Ghana, the US, and Singapore – are explored. Similarities and differences are highlighted, and the influence of national and regional initiatives related to pedagogical strategies, teacher education, and cultural expectations are considered, to offer an insightful examination of how best practices might be shared across borders. This book will benefit researchers, academics, and postgraduate scholars with an interest in international and comparative education, mathematics, and educational policy. Those with a specialization in primary mathematics education, including pedagogy and teacher preparation, will also benefit from this book.

This book focuses on quantitative reasoning as an orienting framework to analyse learning, teaching and curriculum in mathematics and science education. Quantitative reasoning plays a vital role in learning concepts foundational to arithmetic, algebra, calculus, geometry, trigonometry and other ideas in STEM. The book draws upon the importance of quantitative reasoning and its crucial role in education. It particularly delves into quantitative reasoning related to the learning and teaching diverse mathematics and science concepts, conceptual analysis of mathematical and scientific ideas and analysis of school mathematics (K-16) curricula in different contexts. We believe that it can be considered as a reference book to be used by researchers, teacher educators, curriculum developers and pre- and in-service teachers.

With a focus on Asian contexts, this book brings together knowledge on how values and practices, embedded and practised in the classroom, school, family, and the society at large, can influence students’ motivation, engagement and psychological well-being. The book synthesizes research on students and systems from culturally diverse Asian countries and economies, including Cambodia, Hong Kong-China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, and beyond. The book takes special interest in applying the insights gained from understanding students’ motivation, engagement, and well-being within their sociocultural contexts. Importantly, chapters in the book are grounded on thorough theoretical reviews and sound empirical findings, which together inform practical applications to enhance the motivation, engagement, and well-being of students in the Asian region. Taken together, this book will serve as a comprehensive and authoritative source for scholars, researchers, and practitioners (teachers, school policy makers, and educators in general) who are interested in examining and enhancing student motivation, engagement, and well-being from Asian perspectives.

This volume focuses on research related to mathematics curriculum. But rather than focusing on results of research, it focuses on lessons learned about conducting research on curriculum, whether about design and development, analysis of curriculum in the form of official standards or textbook instantiations, teacher intentions related to curriculum implementation, or actual classroom enactment. For scholars interested in curriculum research, the volume offers lessons about conducting curriculum research that have been learned by others engaged in such work, including frameworks, tools, and techniques, as well as challenges and issues faced, with solutions to address them. Sharing lessons from authors of different countries strengthens the broader mathematics research community and provides insights that can help researchers make important strides forward in research on mathematics curriculum.

This book discusses the strategies that the Singapore Education System has embarked to encourage school change and innovations. It documents the change journey of Specialized Schools and Future Schools in Singapore with a view to understand the key tenets that enable school wide change and reform. The intents for change and reform are to anchor the education system to the basic foundations and principles of education and yet enable the system as a whole to be malleable to change and globalization. It shows how Singapore enables diversity within a structured environment through innovations in Specialized and Future Schools, and highlights the systemic rationale behind various efforts in Specialized and Future Schools and the kinds of adaptations schools have made to leverage structures and make adjustments for their contexts.