Spanish research in Mathematics education from a conceptual approach inserted in its doctoral thesis

Abstract

This paper analyses conceptually the doctoral thesis in Mathematics Education defended in Spanish universities during the period 1975-2002 using the topic categories established by the German journal Zentralblatt fur Didaktik der Mathematik [ZDM] (see Fachinformations Zentrum Karlruhe, 2004); furthermore, it examines which has been the evolution of such production throghout this period and it establishes an assessment of the research laid down in such thesis. A factorial analysis based on principal components of the categories, considered as variables, reveals the existence of a general factor (central conceptual construct) and a series of specific factors which can be interpreted.