Focus and Scope
FOCUS
The International Journal of Didactic Mathematics in Distance Education (IJDMDE) is an international peer-reviewed journal that advances knowledge at the convergence of mathematics education and distance, digital, and technology-mediated learning. The journal is built on a foundational premise: that learning mathematics at a distance — whether synchronously through live virtual classrooms, asynchronously through digital modules and recorded instruction, or through hybrid configurations that combine both — constitutes a qualitatively distinct didactical challenge that demands its own theories, empirical methods, and design frameworks.
IJDMDE is not a general mathematics education journal, nor a general educational technology journal. Its defining identity lies in the didactical lens it brings to every dimension of distance mathematics education: how mathematical knowledge is transposed and reconstructed across digital interfaces; how learning obstacles emerge and are resolved in non-face-to-face environments; how didactical situations are designed, tested, and refined to support genuine mathematical understanding when teacher and learner are separated by space, time, or both.
On synchronous and asynchronous modes of distance mathematics learning. The journal's scope spans the full spectrum of distance learning modalities. In synchronous contexts — live video sessions, virtual classrooms, real-time collaborative digital tools — the central challenge is sustaining authentic mathematical discourse, collective reasoning, and responsive didactical interaction without physical co-presence. In asynchronous contexts — self-paced digital modules, recorded instruction, AI-driven adaptive platforms, and independent problem-solving environments — the challenge shifts to the architecture of the learning experience itself: how tasks are sequenced, how feedback is embedded, how students build mathematical understanding without immediate teacher response, and how the didactical contract between learner and knowledge is renegotiated in the absence of real-time guidance. Hybrid and blended models, which interweave both modes within a single course or program, constitute an increasingly important and complex area of investigation that IJDMDE specifically prioritizes.
IJDMDE draws from a wide range of theoretical traditions — including Didactical Design Research, the Theory of Didactical Situations, Realistic Mathematics Education, sociocultural theory, variation theory, embodied cognition, and design-based research — without privileging any single framework. What unifies the journal's intellectual community is not adherence to one theory, but a shared commitment to rigorous, design-oriented scholarship that illuminates how mathematical knowledge is constructed, mediated, and deepened in distance and digital environments.
A core commitment of IJDMDE is educational equity across global contexts. The journal actively centers research from developing and emerging educational settings — including open and distance universities, under-resourced schools, rural and remote communities, and regions navigating digital infrastructure constraints — while remaining equally open to contributions from well-resourced and technologically advanced contexts. This dual orientation positions IJDMDE as a genuinely global forum for building comparative, contextually grounded knowledge about what works in distance mathematics education, for whom, and under what conditions.
SCOPE
IJDMDE publishes original empirical, theoretical, methodological, and design-based research. All manuscripts must engage substantively with both (a) mathematics education — including mathematical content, thinking, or learning processes — and (b) a distance, online, hybrid, blended, or digitally mediated learning context. Submissions that address general classroom-based instruction without a distance or digital dimension, or that address educational technology without meaningful engagement with mathematical learning, fall outside the journal's scope.
The following eight thematic areas reflect both the journal's intellectual priorities and the research landscape evident across its published volumes:
1. Didactical Design and Learning Obstacle Research in Distance Mathematics Education
This is IJDMDE's foundational thematic area, rooted in the design and empirical study of mathematics learning experiences delivered at a distance. The journal publishes studies that systematically diagnose learning obstacles — ontogenic, didactical, and epistemological — specific to non-face-to-face mathematics contexts, and that design, implement, and refine didactical sequences or situations to address them. Research may employ Didactical Design Research (DDR), Didactical Engineering, design-based research, lesson study adapted to online contexts, or other rigorous design frameworks. Studies should go beyond reporting instructional outcomes to illuminate the mechanisms through which specific didactical design choices interact with learners' prior knowledge structures, conceptual difficulties, and the affordances or constraints of the digital learning environment. Both synchronous (e.g., live online lesson study) and asynchronous (e.g., self-paced digital didactical sequences) implementations are within scope. Representative published work in this area includes studies on didactical design for online fraction learning, hybrid module design to minimize learning obstacles, and online didactical design through lesson study activities.
2. Digital and Intelligent Technologies as Mediators of Mathematical Understanding
IJDMDE publishes research examining how digital tools — including dynamic geometry software (GeoGebra, Desmos), computer algebra systems, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), generative language models, adaptive learning platforms, and interactive digital media — function as mediators of mathematical meaning-making in distance and digital contexts. The journal is particularly interested in studies that move beyond whether a technology improves outcomes to interrogate how specific technological affordances shape students' mathematical reasoning, representation, spatial thinking, and conceptual understanding. Research on the use of AI tools — including students' perceptions, engagement patterns, and the effects of AI integration on mathematical thinking in both synchronous and asynchronous settings — is an actively growing area of priority. Representative published work includes studies on VR for spatial ability, GeoGebra-assisted discovery learning, digital media development for algebraic thinking, interactive GeoGebra in 3D geometry, and AI tool perceptions among mathematics undergraduates.
3. Mathematical Cognition, Representation, and Meaning-Making in Digital Environments
Research in this area investigates how learners construct, communicate, and consolidate mathematical understanding when mediated by digital interfaces rather than face-to-face interaction. Topics include: the role of multimodal representations in online mathematics learning; how students develop mathematical language, argumentation, and proof in asynchronous environments; the cognitive demands of self-regulated mathematics learning at a distance; concept image and concept definition formation in digital learning contexts; bibliometric and knowledge-mapping studies of mathematics education research areas; and investigations into how screen-mediated interaction reshapes embodied and intuitive mathematical thinking. Studies drawing on neuro-mathematical or cognitive neuroscience perspectives on mathematics learning in digital environments are particularly welcomed. Representative published work includes studies on concept image and concept definition for derivatives, knowledge mapping of Computational Thinking and STEM, and neuro-mathematical connections in geometric problem solving.
4. Assessment, Feedback, and Higher-Order Mathematical Thinking in Digital Contexts
This thematic area encompasses the design, validation, and critical examination of digital assessment instruments and feedback mechanisms in distance mathematics education. IJDMDE welcomes studies on computer-based and technology-assisted assessments of higher-order mathematical thinking — including non-routine problem solving, mathematical argumentation, statistical reasoning, proportional reasoning, and spatial cognition — as well as research on how automated, peer, AI-generated, and formative digital feedback shapes students' mathematical learning trajectories. Studies examining the validity, reliability, and cultural fairness of digital mathematics assessments across diverse populations and educational systems are especially encouraged. Representative published work includes studies on computer-aided assessment for non-routine problem solving and bibliometric analyses of proportional reasoning research.
5. Innovative Instructional Models and Learning Design in Distance Mathematics Education
IJDMDE publishes research on the design, implementation, and evaluation of instructional models adapted for distance and digital mathematics learning contexts. This includes studies on flipped classroom models, problem-based learning in hybrid environments, project-based digital learning, collaborative and peer learning structures in online settings, constructivism-based models in digital classrooms, and self-regulatory learning in distance mathematics programs. Research should examine not only whether a model is effective but how its specific design features interact with the distance or digital context to produce observed outcomes in students' mathematical achievement, engagement, motivation, or self-efficacy. Both quasi-experimental and design-oriented studies are welcomed, provided they engage meaningfully with the mathematics learning process. Representative published work includes studies on flipped classroom models in Nigeria, constructivism-based learning models, peer and self-regulatory learning in mathematics, and Think Pair Share in geometry learning.
6. Ethnomathematics, Cultural Context, and Inclusive Mathematics Learning at a Distance
The journal is committed to research that situates mathematics learning within cultural, linguistic, and community contexts — particularly as these contexts intersect with distance and digital education. This includes: ethnomathematical studies that investigate how mathematical knowledge embedded in local cultural practices can be integrated into distance mathematics learning designs; studies on inclusive digital mathematics environments for learners with diverse learning needs, disabilities, or linguistic backgrounds; research on gender, identity, and participation in online mathematics learning; and investigations into literacy, numeracy, and mathematical access in contexts of educational disadvantage. IJDMDE particularly welcomes research from communities and educational systems in the Global South where distance mathematics education intersects with questions of language, culture, and equity. Representative published work includes ethnomathematic studies of the Dawan Tribe community, studies on students' mathematical creative thinking and self-confidence, and research on literacy and numeracy outcomes in the Kampus Mengajar program.
7. Teacher Education and Professional Practice in Distance Mathematics Teaching
IJDMDE recognizes that improving distance mathematics education requires sustained attention to the educators who design and facilitate it. The journal publishes research on: the preparation and professional development of mathematics teachers for online, hybrid, and technology-mediated teaching contexts; how mathematics teachers adapt their didactical reasoning, task design, and pedagogical decision-making when working at a distance; lesson study and collaborative inquiry adapted for online professional learning communities; and the professional identity, beliefs, and self-efficacy of mathematics educators working in non-traditional teaching environments. Studies on pre-service teacher education that explicitly address the challenges of distance or technology-mediated mathematics instruction are also within scope. Representative published work includes studies on prospective mathematics teachers and cooperative learning strategies in digital geometry contexts.
8. Methodological Innovation and Research Synthesis in Distance Mathematics Education
As a field at the frontier of two disciplines, distance mathematics education demands methodological creativity and rigor. IJDMDE welcomes papers that develop, critique, or systematically apply innovative research methodologies suited to studying mathematics learning in digital and distance contexts. This includes: design-based and educational design research; multimodal and interaction analysis of digital learning data; learning analytics and trace data methodologies; systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and bibliometric studies of the distance mathematics education literature; and methodological papers that address the epistemological and ethical challenges of conducting research with learners in remote or technology-mediated settings. Papers that offer guidance on research problem formulation, methodology selection, and scholarly writing in mathematics education are also welcomed when they contribute substantively to the methodological development of the field. Representative published work includes bibliometric analyses of Scopus-indexed mathematics education literature and methodological papers on research problem formulation in mathematics education.
