Implications of a comparative study for mathematics education in the English education system

This paper reports upon particular aspects of a study carried out by Delice in 2003, the main aim of which was to compare the performance of students in the 16–19 age group from Turkey and England on trigonometry of ‘A-level standard’ and then to compare the curriculum and assessment provision in each country to seek possible explanations for differences in performance. Overall, the Turkish students did much better with the algebraic, manipulative aspects of trigonometry, the English students did better with the application of trigonometry to practical situations. The comparison of curriculum and assessment provision in the light of these results raises several issues about the current A-level mathematics syllabus. It may be that there is a tendency to think that mathematics is very much the same in any country, however this research supports previous work [Kawanaka, T., Stigler, J.W. and Hiebart, J. (1999) Studying Mathematics Classrooms in Germany, Japan and the United States: Lessons from the TIMSS Video Study] where mathematics was indeed found to be taught and learnt differently and the roles of teachers and students were different across three countries (Germany, Japan and the USA). The paper begins by briefly describing the research and presenting some of the results. There then follows a discussion of these results within the context of curriculum and assessment provision within each country. Finally, issues for the current A-level syllabus arising out the results are presented.