Mathematics Education
Brigham Young University
- Department
- Undergraduate
- Graduate
- Other 1
The mission of the Department of Mathematics Education is to prepare excellent teachers, teacher educators, and researchers in mathematics education, in an informed, reflective and continually-renewing process.
Dr. Steven R. Williams recently gave the opening address at the Research Presession of the 2008 Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). More than five hundred mathematics education researchers and mathematics teachers from all around the world attended his presentation. Dr. Williams was selected for this honor because of his recently completed four-year term as editor of NCTM’s research journal, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education. This journal is commonly recognized as one of the premier international research journals in the field of mathematics education.
In his address, Dr. Williams questioned the assumption that there is a single, universal mathematics that is practiced more or less correctly by the many different groups of people who use mathematics in their professions or everyday lives. Citing research on mathematical knowledge, mathematical discourse, and mathematics teacher education, Dr. Williams argued that the existence of a single, universal mathematics has yet to be established. In fact, it is more likely that there are multiple mathematics that are characterized by unique mathematical practices, norms, and discourse patterns. He urged researchers to use the tools of ethnography and discourse analysis to study different mathematical communities and characterize their mathematical practices and discourses. Findings from these studies can be used to guide mathematics educators in making decisions about what content to teach in the public schools.