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Subjects:
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Mathematics
Achievement. Arithmetic. Connections. Educational research. Instructional issues. Misconceptions. Process skills. Professional development. Reasoning. Reform. Representation. Teachers. Teaching methods. |
Resource Type:
Professional development. Media Type:
Print material.
Geographic Focus:
China (Peoples Republic of China); United States.
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Abstract:
This professional book reports the findings of a research project that compared the subject matter knowledge of elementary school mathematics teachers in the United States and China. Chinese students typically outperform U. S. students on international comparisons of mathematics competency. Studies of U. S. teachers often document their insufficient subject matter knowledge in mathematics but give few examples of the knowledge teachers need to support teaching, particularly the kind of teaching demanded by recent reforms in mathematics education. This book describes the nature and development of the Profound Understanding of Fundamental Mathematics (PUFM) that teachers need to become accomplished mathematics teachers, and suggests why such teaching knowledge is more common in China than in the United States, despite the fact that Chinese teachers have less formal education than their U. S. counterparts. The term Fundamental Mathematics refers to the foundational, primary, and elementary aspects of the mathematics taught in elementary school. Elementary mathematics is foundational, because, composed of arithmetic and primary geometry, it forms the foundation of the skills and knowledge on which the more advanced mathematical disciplines depend. It is primary, because it contains the rudiments of many important concepts in the more advanced branches of mathematics. The term Profound Understanding refers to the depth, breadth, and thoroughness of the knowledge that is required to be an accomplished teacher of elementary mathematics. Teachers with PUFM make connections between mathematical concepts and procedures from the simple to the complex, appreciate different facets of an idea and various approaches to a solution, are particularly aware of the simple but powerful foundational concepts and principles of mathematics such as equality, and are knowledgeable about the whole elementary mathematics curriculum, not just the content of a particular grade level. The book concludes with suggestions for applying what was learned about the development of PUFM among Chinese elementary school teachers to the problem of U. S. elementary school teachers' development of PUFM. (Author/GMM) |
