Back to CRME home page About the Collaborative Group for Research in Mathematics Education
The University of Southampton has enjoyed a national and international reputation for research and development in mathematics education for many years, especially since the major reform in mathematics education, including the beginnings of the original "New Mathematics" movement in Europe, in the early 1960s.
The curricula reforms of the 1960s were kick-started by the Royaumont Seminar of 1959, held near Paris and organised under the auspices of the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (and precipitated by the launch, in 1957, of the first sputnik by the Soviet Union). Following this event, the reform of mathematics teaching in the 1960s gained significant momentum with a follow-up conference in Southampton in 1961. This conference was chaired by Professor Bryan Thwaites of the University of Southampton.
One particularly significant outcome of the 1961 Southampton conference was the School Mathematics Project (SMP), a major UK curriculum developer, which began as a University of Southampton research project in 1962 and continues to be based at the University.
In the early 1970s the the Collaborative Group for Research in Mathematics Education was established as the University of Southampton Centre for Mathematics Education and was formed in order to:
The current director of the group is Keith Jones. For details of the members of the group, please click here.
Following major restructuring of the University
of Southampton in August 2003:
- the Research and Graduate School of Education in the Faculty of
Social Sciences became the School of Education in the Faculty of
Law, Arts and Social Sciences
- the Faculty of Mathematical Studies became
the School of Mathematics in the Faculty of Engineering,
Science and Mathematics
and
- the University of Southampton Centre for Research in
Mathematics Education became the University of
Southampton Collaborative Group for
Research in Mathematics Education (CRME)
Recent past directors of the University of Southampton Centre
for Mathematics Education include (in reverse chronological
order):
Gary Davis, Professor of Education (School of Education)
Peter Kelly, Professor of Education (School of Education)
Geoffrey Howson, Professor of Mathematical Curriculum Studies
(School of Mathematics)
Other members of the group who have been influential in mathematics education in the UK over many years include Bill Brookes and Brenda Briggs.
Other people involved in mathematics education who have worked at the
University of Southampton include:
Wilfred Halliday (Bill) Cockcroft (1923–1999), University of Southampton:
1957-1962
Zoltan Dienes, University of Southampton: during the 1940s
Over many years, members of CRME have been active in a range of national
and international groups and organisations, including:
- the (UK) Association of Teachers of
Mathematics (ATM)
- the British Society for Research in
Mathematics Education (BSRLM)
- the (UK) Mathematical Association (MA)
- the International Commission on
Mathematical Instruction (ICMI)
- the International Group for the Psychology of
Mathematics Education (PME)
In recent times, CRME has taken an active role as a founding
stakeholder of the UK National Centre for
Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM)
Read reports on our recent work. More
information on the current work of the Collaborative Group
for Research in Mathematics Education can be found on the
CRME website:
http://www.crme.soton.ac.uk
Achnowledgements
Significant contributors to the work of the Collaborative
Group for Research in Mathematics Education over many years
include (in alphabetic order):
Brian Griffiths, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the
University of Southampton.
Geoffrey Howson, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of
Southampton. Geoff served as Secretary to the International Commission on
Mathematical Instruction (ICMI), 1983-1990.
Sir Bryan Thwaites, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics at the University of
Southampton.
Other well-known members of the group have included:
Brenda Briggs, School of Education.
Bill Brookes,
School of Education.
Tributes
For tributes to Brian Griffiths (1927-2008), see:
Obituary in
The Guardian
Tribute in the
Proceedings of the
British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics
Tribute in
Educational Studies in Mathematics
For tributes to Bill Brookes (1924-2005),
see:
Obituary in
The Guardian
Tribute from
The Association of Teachers of Mathematics
Further information
Background information on the significant contribution
of the University of Southampton, and, in particular, the School
Mathematics Project (SMP), to the development of mathematics
education since the 1960s can be found in:
Cooper, B. (1985), Renegotiating Secondary School Mathematics: a study of curriculum change and stability. Lewes: Falmer Press. ISBN: 9781850000136 (or 1850000131)
Fairlie, T. H. (1969), Recent Developments in School Mathematics, Transactions of the Faculty of Actuaries, 31(2), 19-27.
Howson, G. (Ed) (1987), Challenges and Responses in Mathematics: essays to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the School Mathematics Project. Cambridge: CUP. [with a preface by Sir Bryan Thwaites] ISBN: 9780521335560 (or 0521335566)
School Mathematics Project with Bryan Thwaites (1972), The School Mathematics Project: The First Ten Years; Being Primarily the Collection of the Director's Reports for the Years 1961-71. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 052108587X
Thwaites, B. (1961), On Teaching Mathematics: a report on some present-day problems in the teaching of mathematics, being the outcome of discussions and lectures at the Southampton Mathematical Conference, 1961, under the chairmanship of Bryan Thwaites. London: Pergamon Press.
Contact details
Research in Mathematics Education group,
c/o School of Education
University of Southampton
Highfield
Southampton
SO17 1BJ
UK
Tel: (+44) (0)23 8059 3475
Fax: (+44) (0)23 8059 3556
Email: crme@soton.ac.uk