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In contemporary education, mathematics education—known in Europe as the didactics or pedagogy of mathematics—is the practice of teaching, learning, and carrying out scholarly research into the transfer of mathematical knowledge.
The origin of the word, according to Papert, is not from "mathematics," but from the Greek, mathēmatikos, which means "disposed to learn." He feels this word (or one like it) should become as much part of the vocabulary about education as is the word pedagogy or instructional design .
Mathematics has a remarkable ability to cross cultural boundaries and time periods. As a human activity, the practice of mathematics has a social side, which includes education, careers, recognition, popularization, and so on. In education, mathematics is a core part of the curriculum and forms an important element of the STEM academic disciplines.
The NSF uses a broad definition of STEM subjects that includes subjects in the fields of chemistry, computer and information technology science, engineering, geoscience, life sciences, mathematical sciences, physics and astronomy, social sciences (anthropology, economics, psychology, and sociology), and STEM education and learning research.
Rather than characterize mathematics by deductive logic, intuitionism views mathematics as primarily about the construction of ideas in the mind: [9] The only possible foundation of mathematics must be sought in this construction under the obligation carefully to watch which constructions intuition allows and which not. [12] L. E. J. Brouwer 1907
Bharath Sriraman, of the University of Montana, also investigated the role of polymathy in education. He poses that an ideal education should nurture talent in the classroom and enable individuals to pursue multiple fields of research and appreciate both the aesthetic and structural/scientific connections between mathematics, arts and the sciences.
If mathematics has been informally used throughout history, in numerous cultures and continents, then it could be argued that "mathematical practice" is the practice, or use, of mathematics in everyday life. One definition of mathematical practice, as described above, is the "working practices of professional mathematicians".
Mathematics education in the United States varies considerably from one state to the next, and even within a single state. However, with the adoption of the Common Core Standards in most states and the District of Columbia beginning in 2010, mathematics content across the country has moved into closer agreement for each grade level.