Review And Reflection Of Mathematical Inquiry Research In China

Since the "mathematical inquiry" was first clearly defined as an important part of the high school mathematics curriculum in "Standards for General Senior High School Mathematics Curriculum(Experiment)",which was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 2003,Chinese educational researchers have carried out a wide range of researches on mathematical inquiry.Almost all aspects of mathematics education are involved in these researches,so the number is huge while lack of systematic arrangement.The main purpose of this paper is to systematically collect and analyze these research literatures on mathematical inquiry in recent fifteen years in China,in order to summarize the current research results,find the shortcomings of existing research.At the same time it is supplemented by investigation to find the problems of practice.The author look forward to provide suggestions for further researches and teachers,revision of mathematics curriculum standards and supplementation of textbook content.Firstly,the classification direction of meta-analysis is determined based on the possession and rough reading of the literatures:the research contents and fields,the research methods and means.Secondly,after perusal of the literatures,the research contents and fields are divided into seven aspects:the concept and value of mathematical inquiry,mathematical inquiry and mathematics curriculum,mathematical inquiry and mathematics teaching,mathematical inquiry and mathematics learning,teaching of mathematical inquiry in the information technology environment,evaluation of mathematical inquiry,teachers' professional development on the aspect of mathematical inquiry.The research methods and means are divided into two aspects:qualitative research and quantitative research.Then,based on the classification of the research contents and fields,a questionnaire and interview study are conducted on some mathematics teachers in three places of Jiangsu province,to understand the current mathematics teachers' views on mathematical inquiry and its implementation,and compared with the results of meta-analysis.The results are:(1)each dimension of mathematical inquiry in mathematics education in China has its own characteristics and trends;(2)there are great differences in the degree of concerning and research methods among the dimensions of mathematical inquiry;(3)the understanding and operation of mathematics inquiry in education by mathematics teachers in China are basically consistent with the results and trends of mathematics inquiry research.But for the current domestic research on mathematical inquiry as a whole,the existing achievements lack of multi-level systematic study.The research system and the quality of study need to be improved,it mainly reflected in the following three aspects:(1)the breadth of research needs to be broadened;(2)the depth of research needs to be expanded;(3)the close cooperation between mathematics teachers and researchers needs to be strenthen.Finally,this paper puts forward some suggestions and countermeasures for the above problems.