Vital Directions for Mathematics Education Research [electronic resource] / edited by Keith R Leatham.

Preface -- Reflections on a Portrait of our Field -- Making Progress in U.S. Mathematics Education: Lessons Learned—Past, Present and Future -- The Constantly Underestimated Challenge of Improving Mathematics Instruction -- In the Absence of Meaning -- The Need for Theories of Conceptual Learning and Teaching of Mathematics -- Intellectual Need -- The False Dichotomy in Mathematics Education between Conceptual Understanding and Procedural Skills: An Example from Algebra -- Needed: Critical Foxes -- Where are the Foxes in Mathematics Education?.

What are the most important questions researchers in Mathematics Education should be trying to answer?   What opportunities and challenges face the Mathematics Education community as we seek to answer them?  In this book, some of the most well-respected researchers in the field of Mathematics Education answer these and other questions and lay forth their visions of the vital directions research should take in the coming decades. Each of the international authors provides a compelling take on critical issues related to improving mathematics teaching and learning. Chapters provide an excellent background on current areas of research, furnishing reasoned rationales for conducting research on particular problems and providing compelling arguments that invite us to rethink our assumptions and priorities.