Implementation Studies in Mathematics Education: What Theoretical Resources?

Abstract

Abstract This article is devoted to the theoretical resources likely to support implementation studies. After the introductory section, we focus on the potential offered by resources internal to the field of mathematics education, especially those offered by design-based research, by the systemic and ecological perspective underlying the anthropological theory of the didactic, and by the documentational approach to didactics regarding the teachers’ relationship with educational resources. We then examine particular examples of implementation studies, paying specific attention to the way they combine internal and external resources. For that purpose we consider on the one hand, European projects aiming at the large-scale implementation of inquiry-based learning and teaching in STEM education, especially the PRIMAS project, and on the other hand, the contributions to the thematic working group devoted to implementation and replication studies at CERME 10 and CERME 11. We conclude with more general reflections.