Mathematics for Elementary Teachers: A Focus on "Explaining Why"
Critical Issues in Education: Teaching Teachers Mathematics
June 01, 2007 11:40 AM to 12:30 PM
Speakers:
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Abstract: |
Everyone agrees that teachers should have a deep understanding of the mathematics they teach. But how can
prospective elementary teachers begin to develop this deep understanding in college mathematics courses?
This session will describe features of a textbook that aims to help prospective elementary teachers develop this
deep understanding and will discuss the rationale for these features. The book focuses on explaining why the
standard procedures and formulas of elementary mathematics are valid, why nonstandard methods can also be
valid, and why other seemingly plausible ways of reasoning are not correct. The text is centered on activities
that are designed to help prospective teachers reason about, explain, investigate, and discuss important ideas of
elementary mathematics in class, often in multiple ways, and often by drawing explicitly on fundamental
principles and ideas of elementary mathematics. Participants will try several activities during the session. |
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