Abstract
This chapter addresses a significant issue that novice mathematics education researchers confront: how to conceptualize, design, and conduct a quality, comprehensive, research program. Developing, executing, and sharing the results and the process of one’s research program is a primary professional commitment for all researchers. For novice mathematics education researchers, a primary challenge may be how best to navigate the intellectual terrain of their focus of inquiry and also to acknowledge that they are not alone in initially experiencing rejection, frustration, confusion, and doubt but that successes will follow. Conceptualizing and launching one’s research program, one that is both original and generative, is an issue that all researchers have faced in their careers. We encourage beginning researchers to think broadly and creatively about the opportunities to share and to bring new expertise to their work by expanding their community of researchers. In this chapter, we provide insights and suggestions regarding how novice mathematics researchers may reflect upon, construct, and sustain a research program that is both original and generative. Throughout this chapter, we offer detailed examples from our research program in mathematics education to illustrate this process. We report on decisions made and the conditions that prompted the directions we took.
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Maher, C.A., Wilkinson, L.C. (2019). Designing and Conducting Quality Research in Mathematics Education: Building a Program. In: Leatham, K.R. (eds) Designing, Conducting, and Publishing Quality Research in Mathematics Education. Research in Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-23505-5_3
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