Research and Trends in Mathematics Education: 2000 to 2006

This study conducted a series of content analyses of the articles published by Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, Hacettepe University Journal of Education, Elementary Education Online, and Education and Science Journal from 2000-2006. A total of 129 articles were analyzed. According to the findings, most studies were conducted either with elementary students or preservice teachers, in cognitive and affective domains. Additionally most studies were experimental and quantitative in nature using tests and questionnaires. This study also found that most studies were conducted in the numbers and geometry topics. The research topics of cognitive and affective domain were the most frequently investigated ones. Most studies were conducted by the members of the education faculties of universities in the Central Anatolia Region. It's suggested that the mathematics education studies need to increase in number and some replication studies must be conducted. Keywords: Mathematics education, educational research, mathematics education articles, trends in education SUMMARY Purpose and significance: It is found important to know about the publications for the researchers to consider the mathematics education field clearly. Hence the systematic investigation of the articles published in academic journals is important to see the present situation and future trends in mathematics education. Additionally, there is no study in Turkey investigating systematically education journals publishing mathematics education research studies. Hence it is useful to evaluate the current state of mathematics education studies broadly. The purpose of this study is to investigate the research studies in mathematics education published between 2000-2006 in four educational journals in various dimensions and direct the future studies. Methods: The mathematics education articles published in four major journals in Turkey; Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, Hacettepe University Journal of Education, Elementary Education Online, and Education and Science Journal were investigated in terms of the language, research style, sample, research topics, subject matter, method of the study, the institution of the author, the region of the study, and the data collection procedures. The frequencies were computed in the computer. Results: For all these four journals, most of the studies were conducted either with elementary or preservice teachers, but rarely with university students, kindergarten students, or teachers. Further, most published articles were experimental studies and quantitative in nature. Theoretical, material and instrument development, and review articles were, however, rarely presented in the journals. The studies investigating cognitive and affective domains were the most frequent ones. The numbers and geometry were the mathematical topics that were studied mostly by the researchers. Most published articles collected data using tests, followed by questionnaire, but only a few using interviews and observations. The regional analyses of the studies showed that most studies were conducted in Central Anatolia Region. Also most studies were conducted by the members of education faculties in universities. Discussion and conclusions: This study revealed that the total number of mathematics education articles in the four journals for seven years is insufficient. The findings of the study are also consistent with the literature. Studies of mathematical topics such as probability and statistics and measurement and evaluation were the most infrequently investigated ones in seven years and need to receive more attention. The study revealed that most of the authors of the published articles were categorized as university instructors; hence teachers and other educators may be couraged to conduct research studies. It is hoped that the analysis of the study will provide some guidance for mathematics educators, particularly new researchers in Turkey to conduct research and write academic publications in the future. It is also recommended that a similar study be repeated in every five years in Turkey; mathematics education researchers can monitor and review the research trends, and find some more shifts and trends.