Carmen Azcárate

Didáctica de las matemáticas y Psicología

First, Mathematic Didactics is presented as an independent and inter-disciplinary area of study still under development with its own theoretical and practical fields. Then, didactic theories on mathematic education during the past 30 years are described, with a special emphasis on psychological factors explaining different trends. Finally, the article summarizes different lines of work taking shape within research in Mathematic Education, with particular attention paid to studies on the cognitive processes involved in learning mathematical concepts. From a social viewpoint, there are brief references to the study of mathematic behaviour and maths learning.