Recent Nordic research in mathematics education illustrated by examples from NORMA17

Abstract

A characterization of recent Nordic research in didactics of mathematics is presented based on the 32 research reports from the Nordic and Baltic countries in the proceedings from NORMA17 (The eighth Nordic conference on didactics of mathematics). Recent Nordic research in didactics of mathematics is observed from several aspects such as choice of problem, theory, method, result, and target for the message. The analyses of the papers on different levels and from a manifold of perspectives build up an image of what Nordic research in DM (didactics of mathematics) contains and represents currently. The closeness and cooperation between researchers in the Nordic countries is characteristic as well as the breadth and variation in the choice of questions, theories, and methods. Research activity seems to flourish most in Norway. Small‐scale studies as well as larger projects are visible. A variety of messages about mathematics teaching and learning for all age groups are directed to students, mathematics teachers, teacher educators, and policymakers. Quantitative and qualitative empirical studies dominate. Conceptual or theoretical investigations are rare. Studies of outcomes of interventions, including teaching approaches and experiments are most common, followed by studies of learning and cognition, including problem‐solving. There is a need for surveys and overviews as so many new results are exposed.