Making Sense: Teaching and Learning Mathematics With Understanding - Brossura

THOMAS CARPENTER is Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he has taught for twenty-five years. He is the former editor of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, and has received major awards for his research publications from the NCTM and the American Educational Research Association.JAMES HIEBERT is a member of a working group of the National Center for Research in Mathematical Sciences Education at the University of WisconsinMadison. The purpose of the Group is to consider the teaching and learning of the whole-number arithmetic in elementary school.ELIZABETH FENNEMA is Emerita Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Senior Scientist at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has studied the teaching and learning of mathematics throughout her professional career, and is well known for her work on gender and mathematics.KAREN C. FUSON is a member of a working group of the National Center for Research in Mathematical Sciences Education at the University of WisconsinMadison. The purpose of the group is to consider the teaching and learning of whole-number arithmetic in elementary school.DIANA WEARNE is a member of a working group of the National Center for Research in Mathematical Sciences Education at the University of WisconsinMadison. The purpose of the group is to consider the teaching and learning of whole-number arithmetic in elementary school.HANLIE MURRAY is a member of a working group of the National Center for Research in Mathematical Sciences Education at the University of WisconsinMadison. The purpose of the group is to consider the teaching and learning of whole-number arithmetic in elementary school.

The air is full of ideas on how to teach maths better. But many of these ideas are single features, such as "use manipulatives" or "ask high-level questions". Other are based solely on intuitions or anecdotal evidence. "Making Sense" attempts to break new ground by describing a system of instruction that fits together the individual pieces and provides the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence to support the system. It presents several key principles for teaching mathematics for understanding that teachers can use to reflect on their own teaching, make more informed decisions, and develop more effective systems of instruction. "Making Sense" reflects current research-based ideas on how to design classrooms that help students learn mathematics with understanding. It is based on the author's work in four different research programmes, all of which investigated the effects of specific instructional approaches. Out of their ongoing discussions emerged a consensus about what features are essential and what features are optional, which they share in this book. They also provide glimpses into their individual projects and in the classrooms from which they have drawn many of their ideas. By describing the essential features of classrooms that support students' mathematical understanding and by offering pictures of several classrooms that exhibit these features, "Making Sense" provides a valuable framework within which elementary teachers can reflect on their own practice and think again about what it means to teach for understanding.