Learning and Teaching Real World Problem Solving in School Mathematics

Learning and Teaching Real World Problem Solving in School Mathematics
Author: Murad Jurdak
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2016-05-30
Genre: Education
ISBN: 3319082043

The ultimate aim of this book is to identify the conceptual tools and the instructional modalities which enable students and teachers to cross the boundary between school mathematics and real world problem solving. The book identifies, examines, and integrates seven conceptual tools, of which five are constructs (activity theory, narrative, modeling, critical mathematics education, ethnomathematics) and two are contexts (STEM and the workplace). The author develops two closely linked multiple-perspective frameworks: one for learning real world problem solving in school mathematics, which sets the foundations of learning real world problem solving in school mathematics; and one for teaching real world problem solving in school mathematics, which explores the modalities of teaching real world problem solving in school mathematics. “The book is composed as, on the one hand, a high-level theoretical scholarly work on real world problem solving in school mathematics, and, on the other hand, a set of twelve narratives which, put together, constitute a thought-provoking and moving personal and professional autobiography.” - Mogens Niss “These narratives combine aspects of Murad’s personal trajectory as an individual with those points in his professional career at which he became aware of perspectives on and approaches to mathematics education that were both significant in and of themselves, and instrumental for the specific scholarly endeavor presented in the book.” - Mogens Niss

Real-world Problems for Secondary School Mathematics Students

Real-world Problems for Secondary School Mathematics Students
Author: Jürgen Maasz
Publisher: Brill / Sense
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2011
Genre: Electronic books
ISBN: 9789460915420

This is a book full of ideas for introducing real world problems into mathematics classrooms and assisting teachers and students to benefit from the experience. Taken as a whole these contributions provide a rich resource for mathematics teachers and their students that is readily available in a single volume. Nowadays there is a universal emphasis on teaching for understanding, motivating students to learn mathematics and using real world problems to improve the mathematics experience of school students. However, using real world problems in mathematics classrooms places extra demands on teachers in terms of extra-mathematical knowledge e. g. knowledge of the area of applications, and pedagogical knowledge. Care must also be taken to avoid overly complex situations and applications. Papers in this collection offer a practical perspective on these issues, and more. While many papers offer specific well worked out lesson type ideas, others concentrate on the teacher knowledge needed to introduce real world applications of mathematics into the classroom. We are confident that mathematics teachers who read the book will find a myriad of ways to introduce the material into their classrooms whether in ways suggested by the contributing authors or in their own ways, perhaps through mini-projects or extended projects or practical sessions or enquiry based learning. We are happy if they do!

Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning

Setting the Standard for Project Based Learning
Author: John Larmer
Publisher: ASCD
Total Pages: 258
Release: 2015-05-26
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1416620907

This book take readers through the step-by-step process of how to create, implement, and assess project based learning (PBL) using a classroom-tested framework. Also included are chapters for school leaders on implementing PBL system wide and the use of PBL in informal settings.

Mathematical Problem Solving

Mathematical Problem Solving
Author: ALAN H. SCHOENFELD
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 426
Release: 2014-06-28
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1483295486

This book is addressed to people with research interests in the nature of mathematical thinking at any level, topeople with an interest in "higher-order thinking skills" in any domain, and to all mathematics teachers. The focal point of the book is a framework for the analysis of complex problem-solving behavior. That framework is presented in Part One, which consists of Chapters 1 through 5. It describes four qualitatively different aspects of complex intellectual activity: cognitive resources, the body of facts and procedures at one's disposal; heuristics, "rules of thumb" for making progress in difficult situations; control, having to do with the efficiency with which individuals utilize the knowledge at their disposal; and belief systems, one's perspectives regarding the nature of a discipline and how one goes about working in it. Part Two of the book, consisting of Chapters 6 through 10, presents a series of empirical studies that flesh out the analytical framework. These studies document the ways that competent problem solvers make the most of the knowledge at their disposal. They include observations of students, indicating some typical roadblocks to success. Data taken from students before and after a series of intensive problem-solving courses document the kinds of learning that can result from carefully designed instruction. Finally, observations made in typical high school classrooms serve to indicate some of the sources of students' (often counterproductive) mathematical behavior.

Rethinking Mathematics

Rethinking Mathematics
Author: Eric Gutstein
Publisher: Rethinking Schools
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2005
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0942961544

In this unique collection, more than 30 articles show how to weave social justice issues throughout the mathematics curriculum, as well as how to integrate mathematics into other curricular areas. Rethinking Mathematics offers teaching ideas, lesson plans, and reflections by practitioners and mathematics educators. This is real-world math-math that helps students analyze problems as they gain essential academic skills. This book offers hope and guidance for teachers to enliven and strengthen their math teaching. It will deepen students' understanding of society and help prepare them to be critical, active participants in a democracy. Blending theory and practice, this is the only resource of its kind.

Real-World Math

Real-World Math
Author: Genene Rhodes
Publisher: Teacher Created Resources
Total Pages: 114
Release: 2002-09
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0743932676

Guided practice and activity pages help students formulate complete answers to real-life problems involving logical reasoning, pre-algebra, decimals, percentages, basic geometry, graphs, and statistics.

Teaching Mathematics through Problem-Solving in K–12 Classrooms

Teaching Mathematics through Problem-Solving in K–12 Classrooms
Author: Matthew Oldridge
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 135
Release: 2018-10-31
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1475843348

“Teaching through problem-solving” is a commonly used phrase for mathematics educators. This book shows how to use worthwhile and interesting mathematics tasks and problems to build a classroom culture based on students’ reasoning and thinking. It develops a set of axioms about problem-solving classrooms to show teachers that mathematics is playful and engaging. It presents an aspirational vision for school mathematics, one which all teachers can bring into being in their classrooms.

Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design

Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design
Author: Carol Ann Tomlinson
Publisher: ASCD
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2006-01-15
Genre: Education
ISBN: 141660376X

Teachers struggle every day to bring quality instruction to their students. Beset by lists of content standards and accompanying "high-stakes" accountability tests, many educators sense that both teaching and learning have been redirected in ways that are potentially impoverishing for those who teach and those who learn. Educators need a model that acknowledges the centrality of standards but also ensures that students truly understand content and can apply it in meaningful ways. For many educators, Understanding by Design addresses that need. Simultaneously, teachers find it increasingly difficult to ignore the diversity of the learners who populate their classrooms. Few teachers find their work effective or satisfying when they simply "serve up" a curriculum—even an elegant one—to students with no regard for their varied learning needs. For many educators, Differentiated Instruction offers a framework for addressing learner variance as a critical component of instructional planning. In this book the two models converge, providing readers fresh perspectives on two of the greatest contemporary challenges for educators: crafting powerful curriculum in a standards-dominated era and ensuring academic success for the full spectrum of learners. Each model strengthens the other. Understanding by Design is predominantly a curriculum design model that focuses on what we teach. Differentiated Instruction focuses on whom we teach, where we teach, and how we teach. Carol Ann Tomlinson and Jay McTighe show you how to use the principles of backward design and differentiation together to craft lesson plans that will teach essential knowledge and skills for the full spectrum of learners. Connecting content and kids in meaningful ways is what teachers strive to do every day. In tandem, UbD and DI help educators meet that goal by providing structures, tools, and guidance for developing curriculum and instruction that bring to students the best of what we know about effective teaching and learning.

Conceptual Model-Based Problem Solving

Conceptual Model-Based Problem Solving
Author: Yan Ping Xin
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2013-02-11
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9462091048

Are you having trouble in finding Tier II intervention materials for elementary students who are struggling in math? Are you hungry for effective instructional strategies that will address students’ conceptual gap in additive and multiplicative math problem solving? Are you searching for a powerful and generalizable problem solving approach that will help those who are left behind in meeting the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM)? If so, this book is the answer for you. • The conceptual model-based problem solving (COMPS) program emphasizes mathematical modeling and algebraic representation of mathematical relations in equations, which are in line with the new Common Core. • “Through building most fundamental concepts pertinent to additive and multiplicative reasoning and making the connection between concrete and abstract modeling, students were prepared to go above and beyond concrete level of operation and be able to use mathematical models to solve more complex real-world problems. As the connection is made between the concrete model (or students’ existing knowledge scheme) and the symbolic mathematical algorithm, the abstract mathematical models are no longer “alien” to the students.” As Ms. Karen Combs, Director of Elementary Education of Lafayette School Corporation in Indiana, testified: “It really worked with our kids!” • “One hallmark of mathematical understanding is the ability to justify,... why a particular mathematical statement is true or where a mathematical rule comes from” (http://illustrativemathematics.org/standards). Through making connections between mathematical ideas, the COMPS program makes explicit the reasoning behind math, which has the potential to promote a powerful transfer of knowledge by applying the learned conception to solve other problems in new contexts. • Dr. Yan Ping Xin’s book contains essential tools for teachers to help students with learning disabilities or difficulties close the gap in mathematics word problem solving. I have witnessed many struggling students use these strategies to solve word problems and gain confidence as learners of mathematics. This book is a valuable resource for general and special education teachers of mathematics. - Casey Hord, PhD, University of Cincinnati