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Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics: Teachers' Understanding of Fundamental Mathematics in China and the United States (Studies in Mathematical Thinking and Learning.)
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 372.70973
EAN: 9780805829099
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0805829091
Label: Lawrence Erlbaum
Manufacturer: Lawrence Erlbaum
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 192
Publication Date: 1999-08
Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum
Studio: Lawrence Erlbaum
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Editorial Review:
Chinese students typically outperform U.S. students on international comparisons of mathematics competency. Paradoxically, Chinese teachers receive far less education than U.S. teachers--11 to 12 years of schooling versus 16 to 18 years of schooling.
Studies of U.S. teacher knowledge often document insufficient subject matter knowledge in mathematics. But, they 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" that elementary teachers need to become accomplished mathematics teachers, and suggests why such teaching knowledge is much more common in China than the United States, despite the fact that Chinese teachers have less formal education than their U.S. counterparts.
The studies described in this book suggest that Chinese teachers begin their teaching careers with a better understanding of elementary mathematics than that of most U.S. elementary teachers. Their understanding of the mathematics they teach and--equally important--of the ways that elementary mathematics can be presented to students, continues to grow throughout their professional lives.
Teaching conditions in the United States, unlike those in China, militate against the development of elementary teachers' mathematical knowledge and its organization for teaching. The concluding chapter of the book suggests changes in teacher preparation, teacher support, and mathematics education research that might allow teachers in the United States to attain profound understanding of fundamental mathematics.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Important for all math teachers to read
While this text focuses on topics covered in elementary school arithmetic, I think this is an important text for all math teachers to read. Having an understanding of how our students are taught at the elementary level will illuminate why our students' minds are so inflexible and so shallow when it comes to mathematics. I also think it is good to read to get a flavor for the rigor used to approach mathemtics at the elementary level in China. We can use this as secondary teachers to design review ... Read More
Rating: - Guess the Profession of the Only Person Thus Far to Give this Book a One-Star Rating
That's right: a teacher (undoubtedly an American teacher), and even worse, one working on a master's degree in education. And yet, she (to pick a gender to use) is unable to see any worth in this great book. Furthermore, her review illustrates one of the problems with many teachers today in the US: the lack of critical thinking skills, not to mention an apparent ignorance about research methodologies.
That reviewer complained that the author "neglects to even mention any cultural differences ... Read More
Rating: - Highly Recommended for Early Ed. Teachers
I am a college student who purchased this book for a class project. It was VERY HELPFUL. I used the chapter on division by fractions to teach my class ways to make it easier, and the reasoning behind the methods. It was so accurate on how American teachers teach, that anyone who will be teaching math to students should really review this book to learn helpful methods for students. I aced my lesson plan for the class I taught.
Topics in this book range from subtraction, to multiplication, division, ... Read More
Rating: - shows how important a profound understanding of fundamental mathematics is for teaching
Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics is a book that compares and contrasts American and Chinese approaches to teaching elementary mathematics ie arithmetic and elementary geometry. The author argues that Chinese teachers have a more profound understanding of elementary mathematics than their American counterparts and provides pretty good evidence of this. While this aspect of the book is useful, the authors explanation of just what profound understanding of fundamental mathematics amounts to is much more ... Read More
Rating:  - Cure for Insomnia
Ma's book would put anyone to sleep. As a student working on a Masters in Special Education, this book was horrible. Basically, Ma compares Chinese teachers to American teachers in the area of Mathematics. She neglects to even mention any cultural differences between the two societies that she is comparing. This alone creates a fallacy for all of the generalizations that Ma makes about teachers from both countries. In summary, this book is long, boring and not worth the paper that it is printed on.
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