Didactics of Mathematics in Higher Education as a Scientific Discipline

Mathematics education at the tertiary level is a practical concern in many institutions of higher education, and efforts are being made world-wide to improve its quality. A growing number of mathematicians and mathematics educators see the need for doing research and thoughtful development work in mathematics education not only at school level, but also at tertiary level. To give momentum to the establishment of a scientific community of mathematicians and mathematics educators whose concern is the theoretical reflection, the research- based empirical investigation of mathematics education at tertiary level, and the exchange of best- practice examples, the khdm (German Centre for Higher Mathematics Education, www.khdm.de) and the Volkswagen Foundation jointly organized a conference named “Didactics of Mathematics in Higher Education as a Scientific Discipline”, which was held from 1st to 4th December 2015 in Hannover, Germany, at Schloss Herrenhausen. We are delighted that about 100 experts from 16 different countries with scientific background in mathematics or mathematics education followed our invitation to present and to discuss research and innovative efforts for improving the teaching and learning of mathematics at tertiary level, as well as experiences from teaching practice and empirical and theoretical research approaches that aim at a better understanding students’ difficulties in learning mathematics and in learning to think mathematically.