A Survey of Mathematics Education Technology Dissertation Scope and Quality: 1968–2009

Abstract

We examined 480 dissertations on the use of technology in mathematics education and developed a Quality Framework (QF) that provided structure to consistently define and measure quality. Dissertation studies earned an average of 64.4% of the possible quality points across all methodology types, compared to studies in journals that averaged 47.2%. Doctoral students as well as their mentors can play a pivotal role in increasing the quality of research in this area by attending to the QF categories as they plan, design, implement, and complete their dissertation studies. These results imply that mathematics education technology researchers should demand greater clarity in published papers through the preparation of their own manuscripts and how they review the works of others.