Why are there so many formulas for area and volume, and why do some of them look alike? Why does one quadrilateral have no special name while another has several, like square, rectangle, rhombus, and parallelogram-and why are all these names useful? How much do you know ... and how much do you need to know? Helping your students develop a robust understanding of geometry requires that you understand this mathematics deeply. But what does that mean? This book focuses on essential knowledge for teachers about geometry. It is organized around four big ideas, supported by multiple smaller, interconnected ideas-essential understandings. Taking you beyond a simple introduction to geometry, the book will broaden and deepen your mathematical understanding of one of the most challenging topics for students-and teachers. It will help you engage your students, anticipate their perplexities, avoid pitfalls, and dispel misconceptions. You will also learn to develop appropriate tasks, techniques, and tools for assessing students' understanding of the topic.

An insightful, myth-busting book based on one core belief: maths doesn't have to be scary! Exploring the many myths around teaching and learning mathematics, this book offers practical strategies to implement new ways of thinking and inspire teacher and pupil confidence in every primary maths lesson. Whether you're an ECT finding your way around the maths curriculum, or an experienced teacher looking to boost your practice, this book is full of in-depth case studies, inventive lesson ideas and easy-to-digest theory to make maths enjoyable and accessible for you and your pupils. From 'maths is always right or wrong' to 'maths is for some people not others', Professor Alf Coles and Professor Nathalie Sinclair explain why these common dogmas inhibit learners and contribute to the maths anxiety that many children and even teachers face. Other chapters include a practical focus, explaining ideas such as choral counting in steps as a whole class and presenting a maths question as a 'soap opera', as well as real-life case studies for using Cuisenaire rods and climate change statistics to engage and inspire pupils. This is the perfect book for primary teachers looking to reignite a love of mathematics in their classroom and improve learning outcomes for all pupils.

Mobile technologies influence the way that we interact with the world, the way that we live. We use them for communication, entertainment, information and research. In education settings, there has been substantial investment in mobile devices, often without a concomitant investment in developing pedagogy and practices. With mobile technologies evolving rapidly, and the number of educational apps growing, there is a need for research into how they facilitate mathematics learning. Such research is of particular importance regarding how such devices may be used to open up new ways of envisaging mathematics and mathematics education, and to help develop conceptual rather than procedural or declarative knowledge. This volume draws upon international research and reports on a range of research projects that have incorporated mobile technologies for mathematics education. It presents research on the use of mobile technologies, such as iPads, iPods, iPhones, Androids, and Tablets, across a diverse range of cultures, year levels and contexts. It examines the ways in which mobile technologies, including apps, might influence students' engagement, cognition, collaboration and attitudes, through the reshaping of the learning experience. In addition, the book presents appropriate ways to integrate mobile technologies into teaching and learning programmes. It is a significant reference book for those involved with teaching mathematics or using mobile technologies in education, while also offering insights and examples that are applicable to the use of digital technologies in education generally.

In Disrupting Boundaries in Education and Research, six educational researchers explore together the potentialities of transdisciplinary research that de-centres human behaviour and gives materiality its due in the making of educational worlds. The book presents accounts of what happens when researchers think and act with new materiality and post-human theories to disrupt boundaries such as self and other, human and non-human, representation and objectivity. Each of the core chapters works with different new materiality concepts to disrupt these boundaries and to consider the emotive, sensory, nuanced, material and technological aspects of learning in diverse settings, such as in mathematics and learning to swim, discovering the bio-products of 'eco-sustainable' building, making videos and contending with digital government and its alienating effects. When humans are no longer at the centre of the unfolding world it is both disorienting and exhilarating. This book is an invitation to continue along these paths.

Mobile technologies influence the way that we interact with the world, the way that we live. We use them for communication, entertainment, information and research. In education settings, there has been substantial investment in mobile devices, often without a concomitant investment in developing pedagogy and practices. With mobile technologies evolving rapidly, and the number of educational apps growing, there is a need for research into how they facilitate mathematics learning. Such research is of particular importance regarding how such devices may be used to open up new ways of envisaging mathematics and mathematics education, and to help develop conceptual rather than procedural or declarative knowledge. This volume draws upon international research and reports on a range of research projects that have incorporated mobile technologies for mathematics education. It presents research on the use of mobile technologies, such as iPads, iPods, iPhones, Androids, and Tablets, across a diverse range of cultures, year levels and contexts. It examines the ways in which mobile technologies, including apps, might influence students' engagement, cognition, collaboration and attitudes, through the reshaping of the learning experience. In addition, the book presents appropriate ways to integrate mobile technologies into teaching and learning programmes. It is a significant reference book for those involved with teaching mathematics or using mobile technologies in education, while also offering insights and examples that are applicable to the use of digital technologies in education generally.

Responding to widespread interest within cultural studies and social inquiry, this book addresses the question 'what is a mathematical concept?' using a variety of vanguard theories in the humanities and posthumanities. Tapping historical, philosophical, sociological and psychological perspectives, each chapter explores the question of how mathematics comes to matter. Of interest to scholars across the usual disciplinary divides, this book tracks mathematics as a cultural activity, drawing connections with empirical practice. Unlike other books in this area, it is highly interdisciplinary, devoted to exploring the ontology of mathematics as it plays out in different contexts. This book will appeal to scholars who are interested in particular mathematical habits - creative diagramming, structural mappings, material agency, interdisciplinary coverings - that shed light on both mathematics and other disciplines. Chapters are also relevant to social sciences and humanities scholars, as each offers philosophical insight into mathematics and how we might live mathematically.

Lesson play is a novel construct in research and teachers' professional development in mathematics education. Lesson play refers to a lesson or part of a lesson presented in dialogue form-inspired in part by Lakatos's evocative Proofs and Refutations-featuring imagined interactions between a teacher and her/his students. We have been using and refining our use of this tool for a number of years and using it in a variety of situations involving mathematics thinking and learning. The goal of this proposed book is to offer a comprehensive survey of the affordances of the tool, the results of our studies-particularly in the area of pre-service teacher education, and the reasons that the tool offers such productive possibilities for both researchers and teacher educators.

Lesson play is a novel construct in research and teachers' professional development in mathematics education. Lesson play refers to a lesson or part of a lesson presented in dialogue form-inspired in part by Lakatos's evocative Proofs and Refutations-featuring imagined interactions between a teacher and her/his students. We have been using and refining our use of this tool for a number of years and using it in a variety of situations involving mathematics thinking and learning. The goal of this proposed book is to offer a comprehensive survey of the affordances of the tool, the results of our studies-particularly in the area of pre-service teacher education, and the reasons that the tool offers such productive possibilities for both researchers and teacher educators.

This collection of essays explores the ancient affinity between the mathematical and the aesthetic, focusing on fundamental connections between these two modes of reasoning and communicating. From historical, philosophical and psychological perspectives, with particular attention to certain mathematical areas such as geometry and analysis, the authors examine ways in which the aesthetic is ever-present in mathematical thinking and contributes to the growth and value of mathematical knowledge.

This book brings together international research on school teachers', and university lecturers' uses of digital technology to enhance teaching and learning in mathematics. It includes contributions that address theoretical, methodological, and practical challenges for the field with the research lens trained on the perspectives of teachers and teaching. As countries around the world move to integrate digital technologies in classrooms, this book collates research perspectives and experiences that offer valuable insights, in particular concerning the trajectories of development of teachers' digital skills, knowledge and classroom practices.

This book explores alternative ways to consider the relationship between mathematics and the material world. Drawing on the philosophy of Gilles Chatelet and the post-humanist materialism of Karen Barad, the authors present an 'inclusive materialist' approach to studying mathematics education. This approach offers a fresh perspective on human and nonhuman bodies, challenging current assumptions about the role of the senses, language, and ability in teaching and learning mathematics. Each chapter provides empirical examples from the classroom that demonstrate how inclusive materialism can be applied to a wide range of concerns in the field. The authors analyze recent studies on students' gestures, expressions, and drawings in order to establish a link between mathematical activity and mathematical concepts. Mathematics and the Body expands the landscape of research in mathematics education and will be an essential resource for teachers, students, and researchers alike.

Why does it matter whether we state definitions carefully when we all know what particular geometric figures look like? What does it mean to say that a reflection is a transformation—a function? How does the study of transformations and matrices in high school connect with later work with vector spaces in linear algebra? How much do you know… and how much do you need to know? Helping your students develop a robust understanding of geometry requires that you understand this mathematics deeply. But what does that mean? This book focuses on essential knowledge for teachers about geometry. It is organised around four big ideas, supported by multiple smaller, interconnected ideas—essential understandings. Taking you beyond a simple introduction to geometry, the book will broaden and deepen your mathematical understanding of one of the most challenging topics for students—and teachers. It will help you engage your students, anticipate their perplexities, avoid pitfalls, and dispel misconceptions. You will also learn to develop appropriate tasks, techniques, and tools for assessing students’ understanding of the topic. Focus on the ideas that you need to understand thoroughly to teach confidently. Move beyond the mathematics you expect your students to learn. Students who fail to get a solid grounding in pivotal concepts struggle in subsequent work in mathematics and related disciplines. By bringing a deeper understanding to your teaching, you can help students who don’t get it the first time by presenting the mathematics in multiple ways. The Essential Understanding Series addresses topics in school mathematics that are critical to the mathematical development of students but are often difficult to teach. Each book in the series gives an overview of the topic, highlights the differences between what teachers and students need to know, examines the big ideas and related essential understandings, reconsiders the ideas presented in light of connections with other mathematical ideas, and includes questions for readers’ reflection.

Despite pervading all aspects of educational practice and theory, little scholarship focuses on time in education. This book addresses that lacuna questioning our assumptions about time and their ramifications on theories of learning, issues of equity and diversity, and on the purposes of education itself. The authors examine ideas about time in a wide variety of contexts, from ancient Greek fiction to 19th century theories of evolution and from 20th century indigenous stories to 20th century afro-futurist fiction. They show how pervasive the image of 'time as an arrow' has become, an image of time that is one-way, singular and teleological. Through exploring other theories of time, the authors propose alternatives for time in education. They argue that time is one of the key biopolitical tools we think and operate with, but rarely address as a historical, cultural and pedagogical category with which schools reproduce oppressive structures around race, class, and gender in society. The book draws on ideas from the arts and the sciences to illustrate and trouble assumptions of time drawing on artistic and theoretic work from Edouard Glissant, Henri Lefebvre, Giordano Nanni, Denise Ferreira da Silva, Bonnie Honig and others.

A volume in Research in Mathematics Education Series Editor Barbara J. Dougherty, University of Mississippi This volume investigates the evolution of the geometry curriculum in the United States over the past 150 years. A primary goal is to increase awareness of the nature of the current geometry curriculum by investigating the historical, mathematical and pedagogical influences that it has sustained since its inception. Given the limited access to first-hand accounts of the enacted geometry curriculum during the past 150 years, the book relies on textbooks to provide a record of the implemented curriculum at any given point in time and on policy documents and journal articles to provide insight into the prevalent issues and arguments of the day. The book is organized in a chronological sequence of ""notable events"" leading to discernable changes in thinking about the geometry curriculum over the past century and a half-roughly the extent of time during which geometry has been taught in American schools. Notable events include important reports or commissions, influential texts, new schools of thought, and developments in learning technologies. These events affected, among other things: content and aims of the geometry curriculum; the nature of mathematical activity as construed by both mathematicians and mathematics educators; and, the resources students are given for engaging in mathematical activity. Before embarking through the notable events, it is necessary to consider the ""big bang"" of geometry, namely the moment in time that shaped the future life of the geometry curriculum. This corresponds to the emergence of Euclidean geometry. Given its influence on the shape of the geometry curriculum, familiarity with the nature of the geometry articulated in Euclid's Elements is essential to understanding the many tensions that surround the school geometry curriculum. Several themes emerge over the course of the monograph, and include: the aims and means of the geometry curriculum, the importance of proof in geometry, the role of visualization and tactile experiences, the fusion between solid and plane geometry, the curricular connections between geometry and algebra, and the use of motion and continuity. The intended audience would include curriculum developers, researchers, teachers, and curriculum supervisors.

A volume in Research in Mathematics Education Series Editor Barbara J. Dougherty, University of Mississippi This volume investigates the evolution of the geometry curriculum in the United States over the past 150 years. A primary goal is to increase awareness of the nature of the current geometry curriculum by investigating the historical, mathematical and pedagogical influences that it has sustained since its inception. Given the limited access to first-hand accounts of the enacted geometry curriculum during the past 150 years, the book relies on textbooks to provide a record of the implemented curriculum at any given point in time and on policy documents and journal articles to provide insight into the prevalent issues and arguments of the day. The book is organized in a chronological sequence of ""notable events"" leading to discernable changes in thinking about the geometry curriculum over the past century and a half-roughly the extent of time during which geometry has been taught in American schools. Notable events include important reports or commissions, influential texts, new schools of thought, and developments in learning technologies.These events affected, among other things: content and aims of the geometry curriculum; the nature of mathematical activity as construed by both mathematicians and mathematics educators; and, the resources students are given for engaging in mathematical activity. Before embarking through the notable events, it is necessary to consider the ""big bang"" of geometry, namely the moment in time that shaped the future life of the geometry curriculum. This corresponds to the emergence of Euclidean geometry. Given its influence on the shape of the geometry curriculum, familiarity with the nature of the geometry articulated in Euclid's Elements is essential to understanding the many tensions that surround the school geometry curriculum. Several themes emerge over the course of the monograph, and include: the aims and means of the geometry curriculum, the importance of proof in geometry, the role of visualization and tactile experiences, the fusion between solid and plane geometry, the curricular connections between geometry and algebra, and the use of motion and continuity. The intended audience would include curriculum developers, researchers, teachers, and curriculum supervisors.

In this innovative book, Nathalie Sinclair makes a compelling case for the inclusion of the aesthetic in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Using a provocative set of philosophical, psychological, mathematical, technological, and educational insights, she illuminates how the materials and approaches we use in the mathematics classroom can be enriched for the benefit of all learners. While ranging in scope from the young learner to the professional mathematician, there is a particular focus on middle school, where negative feelings toward mathematics frequently begin. Offering specific recommendations to help teachers evoke and nurture their students' aesthetic abilities, this book: Features powerful episodes from the classroom that show students in the act of developing a sense of mathematical aesthetics. Analyzes how aesthetic sensibilities to qualities such as connectedness, fruitfulness, apparent simplicity, visual appeal, and surprise are fundamental to mathematical inquiry. Includes examples of mathematical inquiry in computer-based learning environments, revealing some of the roles they play in supporting students' aesthetic inclinations.