Gaps and trends in mathematics education research in East Africa: reflections of an emerging scholar

Abstract

In this presentation I reflect on my considerations of the key gaps and trends in mathematics education research in East Africa. The reflections are based on exploration of mathematics education literature and interactions with mathematics education researchers from Europe in the four (2014-2018) years of my PhD study. The study, which was an ethnographic intervention study sought to establish the relationship between selfregulated learning and student’s relationship with mathematics. Drawing from the aforementioned experiences and broad findings from my study, I reflect on the implications of the paucity of research on: mathematics teaching and learning in higher institutions of learning; minimal attention to pertinent areas of research such as history of mathematics; and impact of Eurocentrism on teaching and learning of mathematics in East Africa. Some reflections on the implications of the limited use of qualitative research methods and collaborations of mathematics education researchers within and across institutions in the region are also shared.