Diversifying Mathematics Teaching: Advanced Educational Content and Methods for Prospective Elementary Teachers

The book is written to enhance the preparation of elementary teacher candidates by offering teaching ideas conducive to the development of deep understanding of concepts fundamental to the mathematics curriculum they are to teach. It intends to show how the diversity of teaching methods stems from the knowledge of mathematics content and how the appreciation of this diversity opens a window to the teaching of extended content. The book includes material that the author would have shared with teacher candidates should there have been more instructional time than a 3 credit hour master’s level course, “Elementary Mathematics: Content and Methods”, provides. Thus the book can supplement a basic textbook for such a course by extending content and diversifying methods. Also, the book can support graduate level mathematics education programs which have problem-solving seminars/courses in their curriculum. The book is well-informed with (available in English) the mathematical standards and recommendations for teachers from Australia, Canada, Chile, England, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and the United States.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Teaching Elementary Mathematics: Standards, Recommendationsand Teacher Candidates’ Perspectives
Chapter 2 Counting Techniques
Chapter 3 Counting and Reasoning with Manipulative Materials
Chapter 4 We Write What We See (W4S) Principle
Chapter 5 Partitioning Integers into Like Summands
Chapter 6 Hidden Curriculum of Mathematics Teacher Education
Chapter 7 Informal Geometry
Chapter 8 Probability as a Blend of Theory and Experiment
Chapter 9 Using Counter-Examples in the Teaching of Elementary Mathematics