なぜ科学教育研究をするのか？ : 中学校・高等学校の数学教師の視点から

Why conduct science education research?: From a high school mathematics teacher’s standpoint

Uegatani Yusuke

In this essay, the author argues the importance of conducting science (and mathematics) education research from a high school mathematics teacher’s standpoint as a suggestion to early career researchers in science and mathematics education. Since the author holds a Ph.D., he also attempts to adopt an empathic attitude toward educational researchers while discussing this topic. The main argument of this article is as follows. First, the impact of a research article on the research community correlates with its impact on practitioners. Second, even a case study can influence a teacher’s decision-making if it shows a considerable phenomenon, specifically, an extremely beneficial (or detrimental) example of classroom episodes, while the validation of trivial phenomena in educational settings requires quantitative empirical evidence from large samples. Third, it is necessary to thoroughly read existing literature to know what is impactful in our own fields. Fourth, we should consider our research questions when we discuss methodologies. We should not superficially imitate a scientific methodology suggested with a philosophy of science, which may view physics and chemistry as an exemplar of science. Rather, the author proposes that biology (taxonomy in particular) can be a model of science and mathematics education research. Fifth, the first step of writing an academic article is merely writing its introduction rather than reading existing literature. Through this trial, we can determine what we should know for writing an article.

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