Mathematics Education at U.S. Public Two-Year Colleges

Abstract

In this chapter I synthesize past and current research conducted at U.S. public two-year colleges and propose future directions for research in this context. The chapter is organized into four sections. In the first section I present a summary of the evolution of public two-year colleges, also known as community colleges, to provide a context for the work described here. The section includes a brief overview of the main characteristics of this particularly American postsecondary institution. The next two sections review mathematics education research conducted at two-year colleges between 1975 and 2004 and more recent work done since 2005. The final section is devoted to future directions for research in this context.