The importance of the disciplinary perspective

In addition to general findings from education research in the widest sense, further insights can be gained by considering the particular perspective afforded from education within a specific discipline. In this chapter we present two such views: In part 1, we use the discipline of physics to highlight the distinctions between general and discipline-based education research and argue for a crucial bridging role for the latter. In part 2, we use the discipline of mathematics to explore the role of context while examining the use of mathematical modelling as a pedagogic practice.