International Reflections on the Netherlands Didactics of Mathematics


Book Description

This open access book, inspired by the ICME 13 Thematic Afternoon on “European Didactic Traditions”, takes readers on a journey with mathematics education researchers, developers and educators in eighteen countries, who reflect on their experiences with Realistic Mathematics Education (RME), the domain-specific instruction theory for mathematics education developed in the Netherlands since the late 1960s. Authors from outside the Netherlands discuss what aspects of RME appeal to them, their criticisms of RME and their past and current RME-based projects. It is clear that a particular approach to mathematics education cannot simply be transplanted to another country. As such, in eighteen chapters the authors describe how they have adapted RME to their individual circumstances and view on mathematics education, and tell their personal stories about how RME has influenced their thinking on mathematics education.




Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education


Book Description

The Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education is a comprehensive reference text, covering every topic in the field with entries ranging from short descriptions to much longer pieces where the topic warrants more elaboration. The entries provide access to theories and to research in the area and refer to the leading publications for further reading. The Encyclopedia is aimed at graduate students, researchers, curriculum developers, policy makers, and others with interests in the field of mathematics education. It is planned to be 700 pages in length in its hard copy form but the text will subsequently be up-dated and developed on-line in a way that retains the integrity of the ideas, the responsibility for which will be in the hands of the Editor-in-Chief and the Editorial Board. This second edition will include additional entries on: new ideas in the politics of mathematics education, working with minority students, mathematics and art, other cross-disciplinary studies, studies in emotions and mathematics, new frameworks for analysis of mathematics classrooms, and using simulations in mathematics teacher education. Existing entries will be revised and new entries written. Members of the international mathematics education research community will be invited to propose new entries. Editorial Board: Bharath Sriraman Melony Graven Yoshinori Shimizu Ruhama Even Michele Artigue Eva Jablonka Wish to Become an Author? Springer's Encyclopedia of Mathematics Education's first edition was published in 2014. The Encyclopedia is a "living" project and will continue to accept articles online as part of an eventual second edition. Articles will be peer-reviewed in a timely manner and, if found acceptable, will be immediately published online. Suggested articles are, of course, welcome. Feel encouraged to think about additional topics that we overlooked the first time around, and to suggest colleagues (including yourself!) who will want to write them. Interested new authors should contact the editor in chief, Stephen Lerman, at [email protected], for more specific instructions.




Talking Mathematics in School


Book Description

The teaching and learning of mathematics in K-12 classrooms is changing. New curricula and methods engage learners in working on real problems. An essential feature of this work involves teacher and students in "talking mathematics". How can students learn to do this kind of talking? What can they learn from doing it? This book addresses these questions by looking at the processes of formulating problems, interpreting contexts in which problems arise, and arguing about the reasonableness of proposed solutions. The studies in this volume seek to retain the complexity of classroom practice rather than looking at it through a particular academic lens.




Global Learning in the 21st Century


Book Description

In this 21st century, technological and social changes have never been as rapid as before, and educative practices must evolve and innovate to keep up. What is being done by educators today to prepare future global citizens? What are the skills and competencies that will be required by our students? What changes in how we approach education might need to be made? This book presents a modern focus on some significant issues in teaching, learning, and research that are valuable in preparing students for the 21st century. The book discusses these issues in four sections. The first section presents contemporary, innovative curriculum and pedagogical practices that are relevant for the 21st century. This also includes how social networking has an integrated role within current educative practice. The next section then explores issues and current research around motivation and engagement, and how these are changing in this era of technological and social change. The third section presents debates around inclusion and social contexts, both global and local. Finally, the fourth section explores current discourses in regard to internationalisation and globalisation and how these are being considered in educational research. The book is an important representation of some of the work currently being done for these rapidly changing times. It will appeal to academics, researchers, teacher educators, educational administrators, teachers and anyone interested in preparing students for a modern and globally interconnected world.




Helping Children Learn Mathematics


Book Description

Results from national and international assessments indicate that school children in the United States are not learning mathematics well enough. Many students cannot correctly apply computational algorithms to solve problems. Their understanding and use of decimals and fractions are especially weak. Indeed, helping all children succeed in mathematics is an imperative national goal. However, for our youth to succeed, we need to change how we're teaching this discipline. Helping Children Learn Mathematics provides comprehensive and reliable information that will guide efforts to improve school mathematics from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The authors explain the five strands of mathematical proficiency and discuss the major changes that need to be made in mathematics instruction, instructional materials, assessments, teacher education, and the broader educational system and answers some of the frequently asked questions when it comes to mathematics instruction. The book concludes by providing recommended actions for parents and caregivers, teachers, administrators, and policy makers, stressing the importance that everyone work together to ensure a mathematically literate society.




The Language of Mathematics Education


Book Description

The Language of Mathematics Education: An Expanded Glossary of Key Terms and Concepts in Mathematics Teaching and Learning offers mathematics teachers, mathematics education professionals and students a valuable resource in which common terms are defined and expounded upon in short essay format. The shared vocabulary and terminology relating to mathematics teaching and learning, and used by mathematics educators is an essential component of work conducted in the field. The authors provide an overview of more than 100 terms commonly used in mathematics teaching and learning. Each term is defined and is followed by a short overview of the concept under discussion that includes several bibliographic references the reader can use for further investigation. In addition to terms specific to the domain of mathematics education, select key terms common across all fields of education (e.g., curriculum, epistemology, metacognition) are included. The goal for this book is to serve as a resource for those entering the field as they navigate the language and terminology of mathematics education and as an asset for more established professionals who wish to gain additional insights into these ideas.





Book Description







The Legacy of Hans Freudenthal


Book Description

The Legacy of Freudenthal pays homage to Freudenthal and his work on mathematics, its history and education. Almost all authors were his scholars or co-workers. They testify to what they learned from him. Freudenthal himself contributes posthumously. His didactical phenomenology of the concept of force is both provocative and revealing in its originality, compared with what is usually found in physics instruction. Freudenthal is portrayed as a universal human being by Josette Adda. He made considerable contributions to mathematics itself, e.g. on homotopy theory and Lie groups in geometry. The exposition of Freudenthal's mathematical life and work is on Van Est's account. Henk Bos discusses his historical work. The essay review of the 8th edition of Hilbert's Grundlagen der Geometrie serves as a vehicle of thought. The main part of the book, however, concerns Freudenthal's work on mathematics education. Christine Keitel reviews his final book Revisiting Mathematics Education (1991). Fred Goffree describes Freudenthal's `Working on Mathematics Education' both from an historical as well as a theoretical perspective. Adrian Treffers analyses Freudenthal's influence on the development of realistic mathematics education at primary level in the Netherlands, especially his influence on the Wiskobas-project of the former IOWO. Freudenthal once predicted the disappearance of mathematics as an individual subject in education sometime around the year 2000, because it would by then have merged with integrated thematic contexts. Jan de Lange anticipates this future development and shows that Freudenthal's prediction will not come true after all. Reflective interludes unveil how he might have influenced those developments. Freudenthal contributed a wealth of ideas and conceptual tools to the development of mathematics education -- on contexts, didactical phenomenology, guided reinvention, mathematisation, the constitution of mental objects, the development of reflective thinking, levels in learning processes, the development of a mathematical attitude and so on -- but he did not design very much concrete material. Leen Streefland deals with the question of design from a theoretical point of view, while applying Freudenthal's ideas on changing perspective and shifting. For teachers, researchers, mathematics educators, mathematicians, educationalists, psychologists and policy makers.