Over the last twenty years, my research activity has centered on capturing the complexity of classroom practice. During this time I developed the methodological approach known as "Complementary Accounts" (Clarke, 1998 and 2001). This approach has now been successfully applied in three major studies: The Negotiation of Meaning Project, The Learner's Perspective Study, and the Causal Connections in Science Classrooms Project. The complementary accounts approach has attracted interest both as an approach to data collection, through the creation of integrated video, interview, and artifact data sets, and as an approach to analysis, through the use of complementary analyses of a common body of data by researchers recruited for their distinctive theoretical positions and expertise. Publication of the book, Perspectives on Practice and Meaning in Mathematics and Science Classrooms (Clarke, 2001) attracted interest in the international educational research community and contributed to the initiation of the Learner’s Perspective Study – an international video study of well-taught mathematics classrooms, presently being undertaken in sixteen countries. 

The results of this project are reported in a Research Book Series published by Sense Publishers. The first two volumes of this series are:Mathematics Classrooms in Twelve Countries: The Insider’s Perspective, and Making Connections: Comparing Mathematics Classrooms Around the World.

Prior to this, my major research activity lay in the area of mathematics assessment, particularly the use of open-ended questions and the relationship between assessment and instructional practice. Three publications summarise this work: The report of the Ripple Effect Study into the connection between assessment and instruction, undertaken with Max Stephens and Mary Barnes, and published in the Journal of Curriculum Studies; The chapter on Assessment in the International Handbook on Mathematics Education; and the book Constructive Assessment in Mathematics: Practical steps for classroom teachers, published in the USA by Curriculum Press, which brought together for a teacher audience the practical implications of my work on assessment.

Other research has involved the development of a theoretical structure to describe the process of (teacher) professional development. A complete description of this model was published in 2002 in the journal Teaching and Teacher Education. My research has also addressed theoretical issues of teacher practice and the role of context in learning and instruction.

The International Centre for Classroom Research (ICCR) was established in 2003 as a facility to support the generation, storage and collaborative analysis of classroom data on an international scale. The ICCR is unique in the complexity and breadth of the classroom data it accommodates and provides the focus for an extensive program of international collaborative research activity.




Click on the files below to download pdf versions of recent Powerpoint presenations. These presentations illustrate current research activity.

Presentation 1. Examining Asian Mathematics Classrooms Through the Lens of the Distribution of Responsibility for Knowledge Generation. Penang, June 20, 2007.

Presentation 2. Exploiting Available Technologies to Align Methodology and Theory in the Study of Science Classrooms Internationally. Freemantle, July 14, 2007.

Presentation 3. Facilitating reflection and action: The possible contribution of video to mathematics teacher education. Oberwolfach, November 14, 2007.