How can cognitive neuroscience contribute to mathematics education?

bridging the two research areas

Roza Leikin

pp. 363-383

in: Gabriele Kaiser, Helen Forgasz, Mellony Graven, Alain Kuzniak, Elaine Simmt, Binyan Xu (eds), Invited lectures from the 13th international congress on mathematical education, Berlin, Springer, 2018

Abstract

This paper, which describes neurocognitive studies that focus on mathematical processing, demonstrates the value that both mathematics education research and neuroscience research can derive from the integration of these two areas of research. It includes a brief overview of neuroimaging research related to mathematical processing. I base my claim that cognitive neuroscience and mathematics education are still two tangent areas of research on a brief comparison of these two fields, with a particular spotlight on research goals, conceptions, and tools. Through a close look at several studies, I outline possible directions in which mathematics education and educational neuroscience can capitalize on each other. Mathematics education can contribute to the stages of research design, while neuroscience can validate theories in mathematics education and advance the interpretation of the research results. To make such an integration successful, collaboration between mathematics educators and neuroscientists is crucial.