[Maths-Education] Seeking an exemplary research paper

[Ernest, Paul]

Dear colleagues

I am seeking  an exemplary research paper in mathematics education for use with doctoral students

Do you have a suggestion of a nice piece of published work in a journal in our field? I don't read a huge number of published empirical studies in research journals anymore so I thought I would ask the wider research community. What I hope for is something succinct but exemplary - not in the sense of perfection - but as a good example. Something relatively recent (up to 10 years old - or 20 at a pinch). Hopefully I'll get - we'll get - because I think this is something of broader interest - a range of suggestions.

We are all supposed to be judges now what with successive RAEs and the REF exercises (for international colleagues these are local British research assessment exercises that rank the perceived quality of our publications from 1* (national level) to 4* (outstanding at the international level) for the allocation of a shrinking pool of research funds to British universities). Has this provided a tool for selecton of papers? Not in my mind. I look for interesting or significant new knowledge or surprises - intellectual pleasure at reading a paper is more important to me than  RAE/REF "quality". But then my judgement is distributing a small amount of interest, not a large amount of resoure!

Best wishes

Paul
__________________
Paul Ernest
Emeritus Professor
Graduate School of Education
University of Exeter
St Lukes, Heavitree Road
Exeter  EX1 2LU, UK
+44-(0)1392-264796

p.ernest at ex.ac.uk<mailto:p.ernest at ex.ac.uk>
http://www.people.ex.ac.uk/PErnest/

Visiting Professor, University of Oslo, Norway
Adjunct Professor, Hope University, Liverpool

See http://www.people.ex.ac.uk/PErnest/  for Philosophy of Mathematics Education Journal - No. 25 on theme Critical Mathematics Education -- out now  (Oct 2010). Contributions sought for No. 26 (2011)
________________________________________