Cognitive Neuroscience and Mathematics Education

This article is primarily addressed to cognitive scientists and neuroscientists interested in education. For quite some time mathematics education has seemed an area in which cognitive neuroscience might make important contributions. This has not happened: studies have been large in number but small in impact, and education has been influenced more by misunderstandings and over-simplifications than actual science. Are these ‘important contributions’ an illusion? If not, why have they not been realized? The first part of the article describes difficulties and obstacles to effective use of neuroscience in education. There are a great many: some in the science itself, many in the education community, and lack of subject sophistication is a particular problem. These obstacles could explain lack of impact, but do not demonstrate that it is possible. The second part describes four neuroscience experiments that could have significant impact in mathematics education. The goals are to show this really is possible, and to see how the concerns of part one play out in examples.