Skip to main content

School of Education

Dr Taro Fujita

Dr Taro Fujita

Associate Professor in Mathematics Education

 T.Fujita@exeter.ac.uk

 4807

 +44 (0) 1392 724807

 Baring Court BC206

 

Baring Court, University of Exeter St Luke's Campus, Heavitree Road, Exeter, EX1 2LU, UK


Overview

Taro Fujita is an Associate Professor in mathematics education in the Graduate School of Education.  He was trained as a primary and secondary school teacher in Japan, taught university degree level mathematics, and completed his PhD at the University of Southampton.  Taro has worked in the field of mathematics education, first at Glasgow University (BEd) and then at Plymouth University (BEd and PGCE).  His current research interests include the history of mathematics education, the teaching and learning of geometry in lower secondary schools, deductive reasoning and intuitive skills in geometry and the use of technology in mathematics education.

Qualifications

2004 Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, University of Glasgow, UK
2003 Doctor of Philosophy (Mathematics Education), University of Southampton, UK
1999 Master's degree in Mathematics education, Kumamoto University, Japan
1995 Bachelors degree in primary education and secondary education in mathematics, Kumamoto University, Japan

Career

2002 - 2006 Lecturer, Faculty of Education, University of Glasgow, UK
2006-2012 Senior Lecturer, School of Education, University of Plymouth, UK

Research group links

Back to top


Research

Research interests

My key research areas are: 

Mathematical thinking and understanding

Geometrical thinking, reasoning and proof

Understanding of mathematical patterns

History of Mathematics Education

Instrumentation process in mathematical learning with artifacts

Dialogic approaches in education 

Research projects

2018-2021: Evaluation of Institute of Coding Summer school, funded by HEFCE (for more information - https://www.iocsummerschoolexeter.org/about.html)

2017-2020: Strategic Partnership for Innovation in Data Analytics in Schools (SPIDAS) , Funding Awarded to Exeter: 308888 Euro, Sponsor: ERASMUS+

2017-18: Developing a group thinking measure test with iPad/mobile tablets in Japan and the UK (Principal Investigator). Funding Awarded to Exeter: £7,000, Sponsor(s): Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

2015-16: Group thinking measures and collaborative learning in mathematics in the UK and Japan. Funding Awarded to Exeter: £9,684, Sponsor(s): British Academy

2014-15: Using Lesson Study to bridge between neuro-psychology and mathematics education: trialling a novel approach.(co-investigator), Funding Awarded to Exeter: £9,600, Sponsor(s): ESRC Transformative Research Call

2009-10: The development of an English and Japanese language web-based learning environment to support students' understanding of proof in mathematics (Principal Investigator), Funding awarded to the University of Plymouth: £9600, The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation

Research grants

  • 2018 HEFCE
    The Institute of Coding is a UK-wide partnership between universities and Industry to influence government policy in data science, AI and the digital skills agenda, and guide public engagement with social and ethical issues arising from developments in data science and AI, amongst others. The University of Exeter's involvement is led by staff from Computer Science, the Graduate School of Education, the Q-Step Centre and the Institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (IDSAI). Exeter will lead initiatives on digital skills education for students in disciplines outside Computer Science and on machine learning technologies for giving advice on skill acquisition personalised to individual students.
  • 2017 Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
    Developing a group thinking measure test with iPad/mobile tablets in Japan and the UK. We will also investigate group mathematical thinking as well.
  • 2015 British Academy Small Grants
    Group thinking measures and collaborative learning in mathematics in the UK and Japan
  • 2014 ESRC
    Using Lesson Study to bridge between neuro-psychology and mathematics education: trialling a novel approach
  • 2009 Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation
    The development of an English and Japanese language web-based learning environment to support students' understanding of proof in mathematics

Links


Back to top


Publications

Books

Herbst P, Fujita T, Halverscheid H, Weiss M (2017). The Learning and Teaching of Geometry in Secondary Schools: a Modeling Perspective. London, Routledge. Abstract.

Journal articles

Fujita T (2024). BSRLM day conference proceedings. Research in Mathematics Education, 1-4.
Fujita T (2023). BSRLM day conference proceedings. Research in Mathematics Education, 25(2), 273-276.
Fujita T (2023). BSRLM day conference proceedings. Research in Mathematics Education, 25(3), 414-418.
Fujita T, Kondo Y, Kumakura H, Miyawaki S, Kunimune S, Shojima K (2023). Identifying Japanese students’ core spatial reasoning skills by solving 3D geometry problems: an exploration. Asian Journal for Mathematics Education, 1 Abstract.
Melro A, Tarling G, Fujita T, Kleine Staarman J (2023). What Else can be Learned When Coding? a Configurative Literature Review of Learning Opportunities Through Computational Thinking. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 61(4), 901-924. Abstract.
Miyazaki M, Fujita T, Iwata K, Jones K (2022). Level-spanning proof-production strategies to enhance students’ understanding of the proof structure in school mathematics. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 1-22.
Tarling G, Melro A, Kleine Staarman J, Fujita T (2022). Making coding meaningful: university students’ perceptions of bootcamp pedagogies. Pedagogies: an International Journal, 18(4), 578-595.
Shinno Y, Fujita T (2021). Characterizing how and when a way of proving develops in a primary mathematics classroom: a commognitive approach. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology Abstract.
Fujita T, Doney J, Flanagan R, Wegerif R (2021). Collaborative group work in mathematics in the UK and Japan: use of group thinking measure tests. Education 3-13: the professional journal for primary education, 49, 119-133.
Fujita T, Nakagawa H, Sasa H, Enomoto S, Yatsuka M, Miyazaki M (2021). Japanese teachers’ mental readiness for online teaching of mathematics following unexpected school closures. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 54(10), 2197-2216.
Fujita T (2021). On Online Teaching and Learning of Mathematics: What Future Research can be Expected by Mathematics Education Research?. Hiroshima Journal of Mathematics Education, 14, 37-51.
Kazak S, Fujita T, Pifarre Turmo M (2021). Students’ informal statistical inferences through data modeling with a large multivariate dataset. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 25, 23-43.
Fujita T, Kondo Y, Hiroyuki K, Susumu K, Keith J (2020). Spatial reasoning skills about 2D representations of 3D geometrical shapes in grades 4 to 9. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 32(2), 235-255. Abstract.
Miyazaki M, Nagata J, Chino K, Sasa H, Fujita T, Komatsu K, Shimizu S (2019). Curriculum development for explorative proving in lower secondary school geometry: Focusing on the levels of planning and constructing a proof. Frontiers in Education
Fujita T, Doney J, Wegerif R (2019). Students’ collaborative decision-making processes in defining and classifying quadrilaterals: a semiotic/dialogic approach. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 101(3), 341-356. Abstract.
Komatsu K, Fujita T, Jones K, Sue N (2018). Explanatory unification by proofs in a mathematics classroom. For the Learning of Mathematics, 38, 31-37.
Fujita T, Jones DK, Miyazaki M (2018). Learners' use of domain-specific computer-based feedback to overcome logical circularity in deductive proving in geometry. ZDM, 50 Abstract.
Norwich B, Fujita T, Adlam A, Milton F, Edwards-Jones A (2018). Lesson study: an inter-professional approach for Educational Psychologists to improve teaching and learning. Educational Psychology in Practice, 34, 370-385.
Fujita T (2018). “That Journal has a History”: Overview of the Technological Tools and Theories Studied in the International Journal for Technology in Mathematics Education. 2004-2018. International Journal for Technology in Mathematics Education, 25, 35-44.
Miyazaki M, Fujita T, Jones K, Iwanaga Y (2017). Designing a web-based learning support system for flow-chart proving in school geometry. Digital Experiences in Mathematics Education, 3(3), 233-256.
Wegerif R, Fujita T, Doney J, Perez Linares J, Richards A, van Rhyn C (2017). Developing and trialing a measure of group thinking. Learning and Instruction, 48, 40-50. Abstract.
Koutsouris G, Norwich B, Fujita T, Ralph T, Adlam A, Milton F (2017). Piloting a dispersed and inter-professional Lesson Study using technology to link team members at a distance. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 26(5), 587-599. Abstract.
Fujita T, Kondo Y, Kumamura H, Kunimune S (2017). Students’ geometric thinking with cube representations: Assessment framework and empirical evidence. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 46(2), 96-111. Abstract.
Norwich B, Koutsouris G, Fujita T, Ralph T, Adlam A, Milton F (2016). Exploring knowledge bridging and translation in Lesson Study using an inter-professional team. International Journal of Lesson and Learning Studies, 5(3), 180-195. Abstract.
Kazak S, Fujita T, Wegerif R (2016). Students' informal inference about the binomial distribution of "Bunny hops": a dialogic perspective. Statistics Education Research Journal, 15(2), 46-61. Abstract.
Miyazaki M, Fujita T, Jones K (2016). Students’ understanding of the structure of deductive proof. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 94(2), 223-239.
Kazak S, Wegerif R, Fujita T (2015). Combining scaffolding for content and scaffolding for dialogue to support conceptual break throughs in understanding probability. ZDM: the International Journal on Mathematics Education, 47(7), 1269-1283. Abstract.
Miyazaki M, Fujita T, Jones K (2015). Flow-chart proofs with open problems as scaffolds for learning about geometrical proofs. ZDM: the International Journal on Mathematics Education, 47(7), 1211-1224. Abstract.
Kazak S, Wegerif R, Fujita T (2015). The importance of dialogic processes to conceptual development in mathematics. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 90(2), 105-120. Abstract.
Fujita T, Jones K (2014). Reasoning-and-proving in geometry in school mathematics textbooks in Japan. International Journal of Educational Research, 64, 81-91.
Jones K, Fujita T (2013). Interpretations of National Curricula: the case of geometry in textbooks from England and Japan. ZDM: the International Journal on Mathematics Education, 45(5), 671-683. Abstract.
Kazak S, Wegerif R, Fujita T (2013). I’ve got it now!: Stimulating insight about probability through talk and technology. Mathematics Teaching(235), 29-32.
Fujita T (2012). Learners' level of understanding of the inclusion relations of quadrilaterals and prototype phenomenon. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 31(1), 60-72. Abstract.
Fujita T (2012). Reimagining Japanese education: borders, transfers, circulations, and the comparative. JOURNAL OF EDUCATION FOR TEACHING, 38(1), 107-109.  Author URL.
Fujita T, Jones K (2011). The Process of Re-designing the Geometry Curriculum: the case of the Math Assoc in England in Early XX Century. International Journal for the History of Mathematics Education, 6, 1-23.
Fujita T, Yamamoto S (2011). The development of children's understanding of mathematical patterns through mathematical activities. Research in Mathematics Education, 13(3), 249-267. Abstract.
Fujita T, Jones K (2007). Learners' understanding of the definitions and hierarchical classification of quadrilaterals: Towards a theoretical framing. Research in Mathematics Education, 9(1), 3-20.
Yamamoto S, Fujita T (2006). A brief history of the teaching of geometry in Japan. Paedagogica Historica: international journal of the history of education, 42(4&5), 541-545.
Fujita T, Jones K (2003). The place of experimental tasks in geometry teaching: Learning from the textbooks design of the early20th Century. Research in Mathematics Education, 5(1), 47-62.
Fujita T (2001). The order of theorems in the teaching of Euclidean geometry: Learning from developments in textbooks in the early 20th Century. ZDM: the International Journal on Mathematics Education, 33(6), 196-203.

Chapters

Komatsu K, Fujita T (2023). Intertwined Use of Physical and Digital Tools in Mathematics Teaching and Learning. In  (Ed) Handbook of Digital Resources in Mathematics Education, Springer International Publishing, 1-29.
Komatsu K, Fujita T (2023). Intertwined Use of Physical and Digital Tools in Mathematics Teaching and Learning. In  (Ed) Handbook of Digital Resources in Mathematics Education, Springer International Publishing, 1-29.
Miyazaki M, Fujita T, Jones K (2019). Web-Based Task Design Supporting Students’ Construction of Alternative Proofs. In  (Ed) Proof Technology in Mathematics Research and Teaching, Springer International Publishing, 291-312.
Miyazaki M, Fujita T, Jones K (2019). Web-Based Task Design Supporting Students’ Construction of Alternative Proofs. In Hanna G, Reid D, de Villiers M (Eds.) Proof Technology in Mathematics Research and Teaching, Spinger, 291-321. Abstract.
Miyazaki M, Fujita T (2015). Proving as an Explorative Activity in Mathematics Education. In Sriraman S (Ed) The First Sourcebook on Asian Research in Mathematics Education China, Korea, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia and India, Information Age Publishing.
Fujita T, Hyde R (2013). Approaches to learning mathematics. In Rosalyn H, Edwards J-A (Eds.) Mentoring in Mathematics Education, Routledge Kegan & Paul, 43-58.
Fujita T, Hyde R (2013). Approaches to learning mathematics. In  (Ed) Mentoring Mathematics Teachers: Supporting and Inspiring Pre-Service and Newly Qualified Teachers, 42-58. Abstract.

Conferences

Fujita T, Jones K, Kunimune S (2010). STUDENTS' GEOMETRICAL CONSTRUCTIONS AND PROVING ACTIVITIES: a CASE OF COGNITIVE UNITY?.  Author URL.

Back to top


External Engagement and Impact

Journal and book series Editorships and Editorial board membership

Editor

International Journal for Technology in Mathematics Education
http://www.researchinformation.co.uk/time.php

Editorial board member

Educational Studies in Mathematics

Educational Psychology: An International Journal of Experimental Educational Psychology

Back to top


Supervision / Group

Postgraduate researchers

Back to top


Edit Profile