This book provides a collection of chapters from prominent mathematics educators in which they each discuss vital issues in mathematics education and what they see as viable directions research in mathematics education could take to address these issues. All of these issues are related to learning and teaching mathematics. The book consists of nine chapters, seven from each of seven scholars who participated in an invited lecture series (Scholars in Mathematics Education) at Brigham Young University, and two chapters from two other scholars who are writing reaction papers that look across the first seven chapters. The recommendations take the form of broad, overarching principles and ideas that cut across the field. In this sense, this book differs from classical “research agenda projects,” which seek to outline specific research questions that the field should address around a central topic.

Numbers are the backbones of mathematics. From 1 to infinity, numbers accompany and underlie the learning of mathematics and research. While perceived as familiar and understood, numbers present fascinating and often mysterious patterns, relationships and pedagogical issues. The Learning and Teaching of Number explores how mathematics education research has addressed issues related to the structure of numbers and number operations and provides a classroom context. It invites readers to explore less-travelled paths through a well-trodden terrain of number. This fascinating book combines mathematical content with pedagogical ideas and research results. Focusing on number, the book illustrates central ideas related to numbers via a variety of tasks at different levels of complexity. The Learning and Teaching of Number will allow the reader to examine and develop personal understanding of number sets and the relationships among them; enhance personal understanding of familiar topics associated with number operations; engage in a variety of tasks and strengthen personal problem-solving skills; enrich their repertoire of mathematical tasks and pedagogical actions; and consider research ideas and results related to teaching numbers, number operations and number relationships. This is a valuable resource for teacher education courses, graduate programs in mathematics education and professional development programs. Teacher trainers and maths teachers will find their personal understanding of numbers and relationships enriched and will draw connections between research and classroom pedagogy which will extend and enhance their teaching.

STEM Teaching: An Interdisciplinary Approach breaks from the more historical idea of making knowledge within disciplines and seeks to engage the reader in a growing conversation that is gaining momentum and is focused on an ‘interdisciplinarity of STEM education’, which seeks to embrace and/or present emerging perspectives on the standards. Importantly, the conversation on STEM education and interdisciplinary approaches to teacher preparation may draw into specific relief the respective professional and/or disciplinary standards for each of the four STEM disciplines as each relates to fostering an interdisciplinary approach. The importance and relevance of this interdisciplinary perspective to teacher preparation lies in the realization that STEM literacy moves into everyday lives and thinking, and not just in STEM related disciplines. This means that faculty in teacher preparation need to extend the range of STEM literacy in pedagogical strategies so that STEM teaching is enriched with multimodal literacies into teaching and learning, which in turn makes STEM knowledge more relevant and engaging for its manifest connections to solving the problems that challenge society.

Algebra is the gateway to college and careers, yet it functions as the eye of the needle because of low pass rates for the middle school/high school course and students’ struggles to understand. We have forty years of research that discusses the ways students think and their cognitive challenges as they engage with algebra. This book is a response to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ (NCTM) call to better link research and practice by capturing what we have learned about students’ algebraic thinking in a way that is usable by teachers as they prepare lessons or reflect on their experiences in the classroom. Through a Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education (FIPSE) grant, 17 teachers and mathematics educators read through the past 40 years of research on students’ algebraic thinking to capture what might be useful information for teachers to know—over 1000 articles altogether. The resulting five domains addressed in the book (Variables & Expressions, Algebraic Relations, Analysis of Change, Patterns & Functions, and Modeling & Word Problems) are closely tied to CCSS topics. Over time, veteran math teachers develop extensive knowledge of how students engage with algebraic concepts—their misconceptions, ways of thinking, and when and how they are challenged to understand—and use that knowledge to anticipate students’ struggles with particular lessons and plan accordingly. Veteran teachers learn to evaluate whether an incorrect response is a simple error or the symptom of a faulty or naïve understanding of a concept. Novice teachers, on the other hand, lack the experience to anticipate important moments in the learning of their students. They often struggle to make sense of what students say in the classroom and determine whether the response is useful or can further discussion (Leatham, Stockero, Peterson, & Van Zoest 2011; Peterson & Leatham, 2009). The purpose of this book is to accelerate early career teachers’ “experience” with how students think when doing algebra in middle or high school as well as to supplement veteran teachers’ knowledge of content and students. The research that this book is based upon can provide teachers with insight into the nature of a student’s struggles with particular algebraic ideas—to help teachers identify patterns that imply underlying thinking. Our book, How Students Think When Doing Algebra, is not intended to be a “how to” book for teachers. Instead, it is intended to orient new teachers to the ways students think and be a book that teachers at all points in their career continually pull of the shelf when they wonder, “how might my students struggle with this algebraic concept I am about to teach?” The primary audience for this book is early career mathematics teachers who don’t have extensive experience working with students engaged in mathematics. However, the book can also be useful to veteran teachers to supplement their knowledge and is an ideal resource for mathematics educators who are preparing preservice teachers.

This book focuses on quantitative reasoning as an orienting framework to analyse learning, teaching and curriculum in mathematics and science education. Quantitative reasoning plays a vital role in learning concepts foundational to arithmetic, algebra, calculus, geometry, trigonometry and other ideas in STEM. The book draws upon the importance of quantitative reasoning and its crucial role in education. It particularly delves into quantitative reasoning related to the learning and teaching diverse mathematics and science concepts, conceptual analysis of mathematical and scientific ideas and analysis of school mathematics (K-16) curricula in different contexts. We believe that it can be considered as a reference book to be used by researchers, teacher educators, curriculum developers and pre- and in-service teachers.

Sharpen concrete teaching strategies that empower students to reason-and-prove How do teachers and students benefit from engaging in reasoning-and-proving? What strategies can teachers use to support students’ capacity to reason-and-prove? What does reasoning-and-proving instruction look like? We Reason & We Prove for ALL Mathematics helps mathematics teachers in grades 6-12 engage in the critical practice of reasoning-and-proving and support the development of reasoning-and-proving in their students. The phrase "reasoning-and-proving" describes the processes of identifying patterns, making conjectures, and providing arguments that may or may not qualify as proofs – processes that reflect the work of mathematicians. Going beyond the idea of "formal proof" traditionally relegated only to geometry, this book transcends all mathematical content areas with a variety of activities for teachers to learn more about reasoning-and-proving and about how to support students’ capacities to engage in this mathematical thinking through: Solving and discussing high-level mathematical tasks Analyzing narrative cases that make the relationship between teaching and learning salient Examining and interpreting student work that features a range of solution strategies, representations, and misconceptions Modifying tasks from curriculum materials so that they better support students to reason-and-prove Evaluating learning environments and making connections between key ideas about reasoning-and-proving and teaching strategies We Reason & We Prove for ALL Mathematics is designed as a learning tool for practicing and pre-service mathematics teachers and can be used individually or in a group. No other book tackles reasoning-and-proving with such breadth, depth, and practical applicability. Classroom examples, case studies, and sample problems help to sharpen concrete teaching strategies that empower students to reason-and-prove!

In an effort to enhance the quality of education, universities and colleges are developing programs that help faculty and staff internationalize curriculum. These programs will purposefully develop the intercultural perspectives of students. Curriculum Internationalization and the Future of Education is a critical scholarly resource that examines the steps taken to diversify a number of courses from various disciplines and addresses the challenges with curriculum internationalization. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics, such as active learning, student engagement, and grounded globalism, this book is geared towards academics, upper-level students, educators, professionals, and practitioners seeking current research on curriculum internalization.

This volume emphasizes the role of effective curriculum design, teaching materials, and pedagogy to foster algebra structure sense at different educational levels. Positing algebra structure sense as fundamental to developing students’ broader mathematical maturity and advanced thinking, this text reviews conceptual, historical, cognitive, and semiotic factors, which influence the acquisition of algebra structure sense. It provides empirical evidence to demonstrate the feasibility of linking algebra structure sense to technological tools and promoting it amongst diverse learners. Didactic approaches include the use of adaptive digital environments, gamification, diagnostic and monitoring tools, as well as exercises and algebraic sequences of varied complexity. Advocating for a focus on both intuitive and formal knowledge, this volume will be of interest to students, scholars, and researchers with an interest in educational research, as well as mathematics education and numeracy.

This practical, engaging book explores the fundamentals of pedagogy and the unique challenges of teaching undergraduate mathematics not commonly addressed in most education literature. Professor and mathematician, Suzanne Kelton offers a straightforward framework for new faculty and graduate students to establish their individual preferences for course policy and content exposition, while alerting them to potential pitfalls. The book discusses the running of day-to-day class meetings and offers specific strategies to improve learning and retention, as well as concrete examples and effective tools for class discussion that draw from a variety of commonly taught undergraduate mathematics courses. Kelton also offers readers a structured approach to evaluating and honing their own teaching skills, as well as utilizing peer and student evaluations. Offering an engaging and clearly written approach designed specifically for mathematicians, A Beginner’s Guide to Teaching Mathematics in the Undergraduate Classroom offers an artful introduction to teaching undergraduate mathematics in universities and community colleges. This text will be useful for new instructors, faculty, and graduate teaching assistants alike.