Global Trends in Mathematics Education Research

The investigation of research trends in mathematics education in the global landscape has been prominent in the recent years. However, there is a dearth of literature in investigating research trends in mathematics education in the Philippine setting. Thus, this bibliometric analysis on the research in mathematics education in the Philippines from 2013 to 2023 was conducted. This paper aimed to present scientific information about the distribution pattern of research on mathematics education in terms of discipline, the profile of prominent authors, the key subject areas which given emphasis, and the direction of research. A total of 993 articles were obtained from the Scopus database and were analyzed using the VOSviewer software application to see the research trends in mathematics education in the Philippines. Research articles emerged as the predominant document type, followed by conference papers. The pinnacle of mathematics education research in the Philippines was in 2014. Notably, the research trend in the Philippines for the last five years have observable decrease in mathematics education. Results show that in terms of discipline, problem solving, teacher professional development, and curriculum were typically the key areas of emphasis. Moreover, the top author with the greatest number of citations since 2013-2023 is a female researcher from Mindanao. Furthermore, the mathematics subjects that have the most attention are algebra, proof, calculus, technology, geometry, and modeling. Finally, this paper foresees continued growth in mathematics education research in the Philippines, particularly in the realms of professional development and problem-solving.

Theory is seen as playing both a foreground role, in the sense that the enterprise of research in mathematics education is to develop theory, and a background role, since all observation is theory laden. After considering different theoretical stances towards observation, data, and analysis, three broad approaches to research in mathematics education are identified and the role played by theory in each of these is discussed. The chapter concludes with some speculations concerning possible directions for development, moving from language as core domain of problematicity, to images, icons, and the impact of electronic media on interpretation in the future.

Utilizing the literature from the Web of Science Core Collection database spanning the years 2013-2023 as a sample, this study employs the bibliometric tool CiteSpace to analyze publication quantity, countries, research institutions, journals, and research topics. The results indicate a rapid development in the field of mathematics education research in recent years, with the United States, England, Germany, Australia, China, and their associated research institutions forming close collaborations, significantly influencing global developments in mathematics education. Summarizing four major research themes, namely teacher professional development, mathematics education and learning, early childhood education, and instructional assessment, it is observed that teacher professional development has consistently been a research hotspot over the past decade. Influenced by the application of new technologies and COVID-19 pandemic impacts, the research suggests that studying teacher noticing and employing continuous, interactive methods for instructional assessment are directions worthy of consideration for future research in mathematics education.

The study aimed to analyze the trends of mathematics education research published in the Journal of Mathematics Education in the last five years and to propose a future map for mathematics education research in the light of the analysis results, professors’ and experts’ views, and the contemporary international trends. The study used a simplified model to classify research in seven domains. Also, the researcher used a questionnaire for professors and experts to determine a future map for mathematics education research. The results showed the research trends in the Journal of Mathematics Education were most of the articles were single authored (79.5%), the use of the experimental methodology (63%), the dominance of teaching strategies research (37%), the number of primary school students (27%) followed by the middle school students (26%), the category of normal students (89.7%), and the experimental research using one independent variable (62.5%). For the dependent variables, the articles used two dependent variables (30.7%). Achievement was the most frequent at 17%. The interaction of one independent variable with two dependents variables was the most frequent and the research co-authored by professors was 11%. The study suggested a future map for future mathematics education research. Recommendations and suggestions were presented. Keywords: Research trends, research priorities, mathematics education, educational research

This paper introduces a schema for classifying research in mathematics education that deepens and extends the Romberg/Bourne model. It employs dual hierarchical systems, one relating to the research task and the other to the research technique. The six task categories—descriptive, interpretive, prescriptive, analytic, synthetic, and theoretic—are defined with respect to breadth, depth, and scope of a study. The six technique categories—reflective, referential, evidential, clinical, empirical, and experimental—are defined in terms of utilization of resources and design intentions of the investigator. The pairing of task categories with technique categories permits the creation of a classification matrix for research in mathematics education. By examining the location of studies within this task‐technique matrix, both producers and consumers of research in mathematics education can discern historical trends influencing current and future investigations.

Background:The current main research trend in mathematics education is publishing studies by Western scholars pertaining to educational issues of the world in general. but Asia is mostly overlooked. Since international comparisons show Asian students outperform others in mathematics, the imbalance should receive more attention.Material and methods:To gain insight into this disparity, this study surveys all theoretical and empirical articles published by Journal for Research in Mathematics Education (JRME), Educational Studies in Mathematics (ESM), and Mathematical Thinking and Learning (MTL) from 2000 to 2012.Results:Issues regarding westernization vs. internationalization of mathematics education and how to build a self-identity in research in mathematics education are addressed.Conclusions:A sociocultural framework for conducting and publishing educational research in mathematics is needed to develop multicultural perspectives.

The integration of mathematics within STEM education has received increasing scholarly attention, reflecting its essential role in preparing students for interdisciplinary problem-solving and global competitiveness. However, despite its growing significance, limited comprehensive studies have mapped research patterns, influential contributions, and collaboration networks in this domain. This study aims to fill that gap through a bibliometric analysis of publications on the application of mathematics in STEM education. Data were collected from the Scopus database using advanced searching techniques with the keywords “mathematics,” “education,” and “STEM,” covering the period between 2015 and 2025. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 776 articles were retrieved. The dataset was subsequently processed and harmonized using OpenRefine to ensure consistency. Statistical analyses, publication trends, and citation distributions were examined using the Scopus analyzer, while VOSviewer software was employed to visualize keyword co-occurrences, authorship patterns, and international collaboration networks. The findings reveal a steady increase in research output, peaking in 2024–2025, with the United States, Indonesia, and Germany emerging as the most productive countries. Highly cited articles highlight themes such as word problem-solving, interdisciplinary STEM integration, and digital innovations in mathematics education. Keyword analysis identified dominant themes around “mathematics education,” “STEM education,” “teacher education,” and emerging topics such as “computational thinking,” “artificial intelligence,” and “sustainability,” reflecting the field’s evolving priorities. Co-authorship network analysis further showed strong international collaboration clustered among developed and emerging economies. Overall, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the intellectual structure, thematic evolution, and global collaboration trends in mathematics-focused STEM education research, providing valuable insights for educators, policymakers, and future researchers.

Mathematics has maintained an enduring image as a field of knowledge lending its resources to many intellectual pursuits and utilitarian enterprises. School mathematics, however, has increasingly learned to respond to a commonly conceived purpose of supplying the world’s workforce with the resources needed to support economic wellbeing. The emergent regulation in support of this response has in some instances tempered more humanistic or idealistic conceptions of why we want to study mathematics. What had been introduced to measure school mathematics now defines and polices its boundaries. It has also privileged Western concerns in setting internationalized agenda. Mathematics, mathematics education and mathematics education research, this chapter suggests, are each conceptualized according to their location, reflecting and shaping each other, yet with each being governed by slightly different priorities. It is argued that schooling is increasingly shaped and judged by its perceived capacity to deliver success in terms of international competitiveness linked to economic agenda. This results in school mathematics being shaped to meet assessment requirements. The chapter shows how research increasingly finds its terms of reference set according to measuring delivery in these terms. It also shows how researchers become complicit in promoting particular conceptions of teaching and in constructing the field as an ideological battleground. Such complicity, it is suggested, combined with the relative insularity of the field, prevents us from occupying other worlds that might define us and serve us in different ways. The chapter concludes with a consideration of the prospects of research in mathematics education and the extent to which this activity is enabled or restricted by existing institutional contexts in re-shaping its ambitions to engage with the diversity of future needs.

This book, Approaches to Qualitative Research in Mathematics Education: Examples of Methodology and Methods, edited by Angelika Bikner-Ahsbahs, Christine Knipping, and Norma Presmeg, is a timely and valuable addition to the research literature in mathematics education. Across 18 chapters written by more than 30 prominent researchers, the book offers a range of insight and detail that goes beyond what is normally possible within individual articles in mathematics education research journals. The book complements other efforts to capture the many advances in the mathematics education research field over recent years. By capturing the important distinction between ‘method’ (the ‘how’) and ‘methodology’ (the ‘why’) through facilitating the various authors in probing the underlying assumptions of their approaches, the book is to be strongly recommended. While it is not a straightforward read, the various sections of the book offer unmatched insight into the conduct of important research in mathematics education.

As pesquisas em Modelagem Matemática na Educação Matemática são realizadas há mais de três décadas no Brasil. Nesse período, é possível afirmar que há predominância da abordagem da pesquisa qualitativa. Nesse contexto, explicitamos alguns significados da pesquisa qualitativa em Modelagem Matemática na Educação Matemática no Brasil. Tais significados são descortinados sob uma abordagem fenomenológica de pesquisa, sobre a questão: como se mostra a pesquisa qualitativa em Modelagem Matemática na Educação Matemática? O solo para o qual a interrogação se direciona são os trabalhos publicados no III Seminário Internacional de Pesquisa em Educação Matemática SIPEM, realizado em 2006. As interpretações indicam fragilidades acerca do uso da abordagem qualitativa, principalmente, quanto à descrição detalhada dos procedimentos de análise, carecendo, portanto, de debates mais amplos para o avanço da pesquisa em Modelagem Matemática na Educação Matemática.

Our task in preparing this article on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Journal for Research in Marhematics Education (JRME) was to look ahead to the future of research in the field and to identify and discuss issues that might be important for the next decade or two in the life of the journal. Rather than merely offering our own opinions and speculations. we decided to interview a number of other researchers, some from the United States and some from other countries, to sample their views regarding the current state of research in mathematics education, the issues that may affect the future of the field, and the role of the JRME in the current and future scene. In particular, we asked these researchers to identify examples of work they considered significant and to comment on its imponant characteristics. We probed their definitions of the field by asking them to identify the types of work (e.g., empirical studies, historical or theoretical analyses) they judged could legitimately be called research in mathematics education. We explored their visions of the future of research over the next few decades. And we questioned them about the role and place of the JRME in the research community and about its impact on the field. In addition, we participated in a conference on Research in Mathematics Education and Its Results in May 1994 that was part of a study conducted by the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI). The discussion document framing the study (Sierpinska et al., 1993) and many of the presentations and conversations at the ICMI Research Conference should be acknowledged as sources of ideas for the article. Naturally, we have included our own opinions, analyses, and perspectives.

In this report we present the results of an international research study on the training of researchers in mathematics education. the study was carried out by some members of the international study group on theory of mathematics education. the research involved developing a questionnaire which was mailed to numerous institutions all over the world and the analysis of the answers which were received. the main objective of the study was to collect international data about the training of researchers in mathematics education and to establish an information network about graduate programs in the field. a total of about 150 questionnaires were sent out and 78 answers received. fifteen of these answers came from universities that wish to participate in the network although they do not have a program at present.

유아특수교육현장에서 장애유아를 위한 수학교육 연구의 활성화가 강조되는 시점에서 본 연구는 장애유아 수학교육의 연구현황을 분석하고 향후 장애유아 수학교육 분야의 발전 방향을 제안하고자 하는 목적에서 실시되었다. 이를 위하여 유아특수교육현장에서 실시된 총 16편의 장애유아 수학교육 연구를 살펴보았다. 분석대상 연구는 연구시기, 연구유형, 연구대상, 연구결과 등으로 구분하여 전체적인 동향을 분석하였다. 분석 결과, 수학교육 연구에서는 단일대상과 집단비교 연구를 통한 수학교육의 효과성 증진에 관한 연구가 다수를 차지하였고, 수학교육 영역은 수 감각을 포함한 수와 연산영역을 주로 다루고 있었다. 수학능력 향상을 위한 수학활동으로는 유아주도 활동과 교사주도 활동이 고르게 적용되고 있었다. 연구결과를 바탕으로 유아특수교육현장에서 적용 가능한 수학 교육 프로그램 개발 및 연구 방안을 제시하였다.This study analyzed the current research on mathematics education for young children with disabilities in response to the current emphasis and promotion of research in the field of early childhood special education. For this purpose, 16 research studies that have focused specifically on the mathematical education of children with disabilities in the field of early childhood special education were reviewed. The general trends within this area of research, by classifying each study according to date, type, participants and result were described. As the result single subject research and group comparison research in mathematics education were currently mostly concerned with measuring the improvement and effectiveness of mathematics education. Also these research was focused on certain subject areas in mathematics, particularly numbers and operations and number sense. Child-led activities and teacher-led activities according to the investigation evenly applied across the different math activities that have been designed to improve mathematical abilities. Based on the result further development of mathematics education programs and directions of research that are appliable in the field of early childhood special education were proposed.

Teaching Secondary and Middle School Mathematics combines the latest developments in research, standards, and technology with a vibrant writing style to help teachers prepare for the excitement and challenges of teaching secondary and middle school mathematics today. In the fully revised fifth edition, scholar and mathematics educator Daniel Brahier invites teachers to investigate the nature of the mathematics curriculum and reflect on research-based "best practices" as they define and sharpen their own personal teaching styles. The fifth edition has been updated and expanded with a particular emphasis on the continued impact of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and NCTM’s just-released Principles to Actions, as well as increased attention to teaching with technology, classroom management, and differentiated instruction. Features include: A full new Chapter 7 on selection and use of specific tools and technology combined with "Spotlight on Technology" features throughout clearly illustrate the practical aspects of how technology can be used for teaching or professional development. Foundational Chapters 1 and 2 on the practices and principles of mathematics education have been revised to build directly on Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and Principles to Actions, with additional references to both documents throughout all chapters. A new Chapter 4 focuses on the use of standards in writing objectives and organizing lesson plan resources while an updated Chapter 5 details each step of the lesson planning process. A fully revised Chapter 12 provides new information on teaching diverse populations and outlines specific details and suggestions for classroom management for mathematics teachers. Classroom Dialogues" features draws on the author’s 35-year experience as an educator to present real-world teacher-student conversations about specific mathematical problems or ideas "How Would You React?" features prepares future teachers for real-life scenarios by engaging them in common classroom situations and offering tried-and-true solutions. With more than 60 practical, classroom-tested teaching ideas, sample lesson and activities, Teaching Secondary and Middle School Mathematics combines the best of theory and practice to provide clear descriptions of what it takes to be an effective teacher of mathematics.

This study examines global research trends in hand codes (sign language) and moral values education for students with hearing impairment through a bibliometric analysis of Scopus-indexed journal articles published between 2019 and 2024. Although moral values education is central to inclusive education, students with hearing impairment continue to face barriers in accessing value-based learning due to communication constraints. To address the fragmented nature of existing scholarship, this study maps international collaboration patterns, dominant research themes, and author-level research communities shaping this interdisciplinary field. A total of 1,068 English-language journal articles in the Social Sciences and Psychology subject areas were analysed using VOSviewer. The analysis focuses on country-level co-authorship networks, keyword co-occurrence patterns, and author-level co-authorship structures as indicators of scholarly collaboration, thematic emphasis, and knowledge development. The findings reveal a research landscape dominated by high-income countries, particularly the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, which exhibit strong international collaboration and high scholarly visibility. Thematic analysis indicates that the literature is primarily concentrated on sign language–mediated communication, inclusive education, ethics, moral values, decision-making, and quality of life for individuals with hearing impairment. Author-level analysis further highlights distinct collaborative research communities integrating linguistic, educational, and ethical perspectives. Despite increasing research activity, the literature remains geographically uneven, with limited representation from low- and middle-income regions. This study provides a focused overview of global research trends and identifies critical gaps to inform future research, policy development, and ethically grounded educational practices for students with hearing impairment.