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Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education pp 713–717Cite as

Realistic Mathematics Education

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What is Realistic Mathematics Education?

Realistic Mathematics Education – hereafter abbreviated as RME – is a domain-specific instruction theory for mathematics, which has been developed in the Netherlands. Characteristic of RME is that rich, “realistic” situations are given a prominent position in the learning process. These situations serve as a source for initiating the development of mathematical concepts, tools, and procedures and as a context in which students can in a later stage apply their mathematical knowledge, which then gradually has become more formal and general and less context specific.

Although “realistic” situations in the meaning of “real-world” situations are important in RME, “realistic” has a broader connotation here. It means students are offered problem situations which they can imagine. This interpretation of “realistic” traces back to the Dutch expression “zich REALISEren,” meaning “to imagine.” It is this emphasis on making something real in your mind that...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Freudenthal Institute for Science and Mathematics Education, Faculty of Science and Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Marja Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen

  2. Freudenthal Institute, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Paul Drijvers

Authors
  1. Marja Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen
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  2. Paul Drijvers
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marja Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Centre for Mathematics Education, London South Bank University, London, UK

    Stephen Lerman

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Van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, M., Drijvers, P. (2020). Realistic Mathematics Education. In: Lerman, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15789-0_170

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