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Curriculum Reform and Mathematics Learning: Evidence from Two Longitudinal Studies

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Selected Regular Lectures from the 12th International Congress on Mathematical Education

Abstract

Drawing on longitudinal evidence from the LieCal Project, issues related to mathematics curriculum reform and student learning are discussed. The LieCal Project was designed to longitudinally investigate the impact of a reform mathematics curriculum called the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) in the United States on teachers’ teaching and students’ learning. Using a three-level conceptualization of curriculum (intended, implemented and attained), a variety of evidence from the LieCal Project is presented to show the impact of mathematics curriculum reform on teachers’ teaching and students’ learning. The findings from the two longitudinal studies in the LieCal Project serve both to show the kind of impact curriculum has on teachers’ teaching and students’ learning and to suggest powerful ways researchers can investigate curriculum effect on both teaching and learning.

A shorter version of this work was originally published in: Cai, J. (2014). Searching for evidence of curricular effect on the teaching and learning of mathematics: Some insights from the LieCal project. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 26(4), 811–831.

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Acknowledgments

Research reported in this paper has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (ESI-0454739 and DRL-1008536). Any opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the National Science Foundation. This research was conducted in collaboration with John Moyer and Ning Wang, as well as a number of research assistants. A shorter version of this chapter has appeared in Cai 2014.

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Correspondence to Jinfa Cai .

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Cai, J. (2015). Curriculum Reform and Mathematics Learning: Evidence from Two Longitudinal Studies. In: Cho, S. (eds) Selected Regular Lectures from the 12th International Congress on Mathematical Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-17187-6_5

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