Abstract
These collected papers are a record of the proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia entitled, Shaping the Future of Mathematics Education. The conference is held in Fremantle, as was the previous conference a decade earlier.
Keynote speakers are discussing issues that are emerging more sharply at the present time as the mathematics education community focus on the education of Indigenous children, the scope of the mathematics curriculum and ways in which the content might be taught effectively, and the significant role of technologies in teaching and learning in the twenty-first century.
Research papers are featured from mathematics educators from all states and territories of Australia, from colleagues in New Zealand, and from overseas — United Kingdom, Singapore, United States of America, India, Thailand, South Africa, and Indonesia. Some participants are not only new researchers but also new to the conference. Many have been aided by experienced colleagues via the supervision process within their university and also by the Early Bird system coordinated by MERGA and the Organising Committee. I wish to acknowledge the advice, comments, and suggestions given as part of the Early Bird system by experienced MERGA researchers. Their generosity in many ways repays the help and advice they received from the MERGA community earlier in their own careers.
All papers submitted for publication have been ‗double blind‘ reviewed by at least two experienced researchers and writers organised into review groups for the purpose. In some cases a third person also reviewed the paper. Only papers that have been accepted by two reviewers are published in these proceedings. In the ‗double blind‘ review process, neither the reviewer nor the author was named. Reviewers worked with a set of review guidelines produced by MERGA to work for consistency of outcome. My thanks are offered to the group coordinators, the reviewers, Emeritus Professor John Malone for his coordination of the process, and to the local Organising Committee.
This set of proceedings includes abstracts and full papers for refereed research presentations, short communications of developing research, roundtable discussions, and symposia. Thanks are due to the co-editors, Barry Kissane and Chris Hurst, for their diligence and support in editing and compiling these proceedings.
The conference has been organised by a group of mathematics educators from each of the five universities in Perth, the main education systems, and the Curriculum Council of Western Australia. There has been a wonderful sense of collaboration typical of mathematics educators in Western Australia. All has been achieved under the experienced and watchful eye of conference organiser, Dr. Jack Bana. My thanks and appreciation is offered to all.
Len Sparrow
Chair, Conference Organising Committee