Mental calculations and estimations are basic, everyday skills that are essential for real-life arithmetic operations and number sense. This book presents a much needed overview and analysis of mental computation and estimation, drawing on contemporary research and empirical studies that were conducted on students, teachers and adults to cover all aspects of this complex field. Mental Computation and Estimation analyses the implications that are involved in the research, teaching and learning of mathematics and delivers effective practices that will enhance everyday learning for students. Focusing on a range of international research and studies from the School of Nature and Life Mathematics in Greece, it answers a number of important questions including: What mental calculations and estimations are, why they are important and what other mathematical concepts and cognitive behaviors are they related to? What strategies are used on mental additions, subtractions, multiplications and divisions and how are multiplication tables learned? What are the new trends in the teaching of mental calculation and estimation? An invaluable resource for all those involved in the practice and research of mathematics education, Mental Computation and Estimation will also be a useful tool for researchers, policy makers and developers of educational programs.

A concise introduction to personal and professional numeracy skills, helping readers to become more mathematically competent.

This book is written primarily for middle grade teachers who are discovering that they now want to teach in ways that create positive mathematical learning environments and instigate rich classroom discourse. Many of these teachers are finding that their mathematical preparation did not address the complexities underlying the mathematics they now want to teach. In Part One, the authors provide a foundation for the mathematics of these grades, particularly the mathematics that grows out of concepts of number, quantity, and arithmetic operations. In Part Two, through three case studies, the authors demonstrate to teachers how a deeper understanding of the mathematics they teach can enhance classroom instruction. The book interweaves research and classroom practice. Mathematics teacher educators, researchers, curriculum developers, textbook authors, and supervisors of mathematics programs will find this book to be useful. Teachers, both prospective and practicing, will benefit most from this book when the chapters are used as catalysts for discussion in classes or professional development programs.

International Congresses on Mathematical Education (ICMEs), under the auspices of the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction, are held every four years. Previous Congresses have been held in France (Lyons), England (Exeter), the Federal Republic of Germany (Karlsruhe), and the United States of America (Berkeley). The Fifth International Congress on Mathematical Education (lCME 5) was held in Adelaide, Australia, from August 24-30, 1984. More than 1800 participants from over 70 countries participated in the Congress, while some additional 200 people attended social functions and excursions. The program for ICME 5 was planned and structured by an International Program Committee, and implemented by the National Program Committee in Australia. For the main body of the program, Chief Organisers, assisted by Australian Coordinators, were invited to plan and prepare the individual components of the program which addressed a wide range of topics and interest areas. Each of these teams involved many individuals from around the world in the detailed planning and preparation of the working sessions for their area of program responsibility. For the actual working sessions at the Congress, the smallest group had some 60 members, while the largest had well over 300. In addition to the working sessions, there were three major plenary addresses, several specially invited presentations, and over 420 individual papers in the form of short communications, either as posters or brief talks.

Teachers have the responsibility of helping all of their students construct the disposition and knowledge needed to live successfully in a complex and rapidly changing world. To meet the challenges of the 21st century, students will especially need mathematical power: a positive disposition toward mathematics (curiosity and self confidence), facility with the processes of mathematical inquiry (problem solving, reasoning and communicating), and well connected mathematical knowledge (an understanding of mathematical concepts, procedures and formulas). This guide seeks to help teachers achieve the capability to foster children's mathematical power - the ability to excite them about mathematics, help them see that it makes sense, and enable them to harness its might for solving everyday and extraordinary problems. The investigative approach attempts to foster mathematical power by making mathematics instruction process-based, understandable or relevant to the everyday life of students. Past efforts to reform mathematics instruction have focused on only one or two of these aims, whereas the investigative approach accomplishes all three. By teaching content in a purposeful context, an inquiry-based fashion, and a meaningful manner, this approach promotes chilren's mathematical learning in an interesting, thought-provoking and comprehensible way. This teaching guide is designed to help teachers appreciate the need for the investigative approach and to provide practical advice on how to make this approach happen in the classroom. It not only dispenses information, but also serves as a catalyst for exploring, conjecturing about, discussing and contemplating the teaching and learning of mathematics.

'This is an outstanding book: it should be high on the list of any primary school teacher's set of references and a required text for pre-service teachers.' Australian Primary Mathematics Classroom In our technology-rich world, numeracy is just as important as the smartphone in your pocket. Students need to develop mathematical ways of seeing the world and strong problem-solving skills, and those foundations are taught in the primary school classroom. Teaching Mathematics in Primary Schools covers the mathematical content taught in primary and middle years, always emphasising how students can connect what they learn in mathematics with other curriculum areas and with the world beyond the classroom. The authors draw on the latest international research to show how teachers can develop a rich repertoire of classroom teaching techniques, and effective planning, assessment and reporting methods. They outline approaches to creating supportive learning environments for all students, and to building their knowledge and confidence in using mathematics. This third edition has been updated throughout and includes a new chapter on numeracy. Evidence-based uses of digital technologies to support learning and teaching are included in every chapter. With practical strategies that can be implemented in the classroom, this book is an invaluable resource for pre-service and early career primary and middle years mathematics teachers.

This volume focuses on two related questions that are central to both the psychology of mathematical thinking and learning and to the improvement of mathematics education: What is the nature of arithmetic expertise? How can instruction best promote it? Contributors from a variety of specialities, including cognitive, developmental, educational, and neurological psychology; mathematics education; and special education offer theoretical perspectives and much needed empirical evidence about these issues. As reported in this volume, both theory and research indicate that the nature of arithmetic expertise and how to best promote it are far more complex than conventional wisdom and many scholars, past and present, have suggested. The results of psychological, educational, and clinical studies using a wide range of arithmetic tasks and populations (including "normally" and atypically developing children, non-injured and brain-injured adults, and savants) all point to the same conclusion: The heart of arithmetic fluency, in general, and the flexible and creative use of strategies, in particular, is what is termed "adaptive expertise" (meaningful or conceptually based knowledge). The construction of adaptive expertise in mathematics is, for the first time, examined across various arithmetic topics and age groups. This book will be an invaluable resource for researchers and graduate students interested in mathematical cognition and learning (including mathematics educators, developmental and educational psychologists, and neuropsychologists), educators (including teachers, curriculum supervisors, and school administrators), and others interested in improving arithmetic instruction (including officials in national and local education departments, the media, and parents).

Sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and written by leading experts in the field of mathematics education, the Handbook is specifically designed to make important, vital scholarship accessible to mathematics education professors, graduate students, educational researchers, staff development directors, curriculum supervisors, and teachers. The Handbook provides a framework for understanding the evolution of the mathematics education research field against the backdrop of well-established conceptual, historical, theoretical, and methodological perspectives. It is an indispensable working tool for everyone interested in pursuing research in mathematics education as the references for each of the Handbook's twenty-nine chapters are complete resources for both current and past work in that particular area.

This volume emerges from a partnership between the American Federation of Teachers and the Learning Research and Development Center at the University of Pittsburgh. The partnership brought together researchers and expert teachers for intensive dialogue sessions focusing on what each community knows about effective mathematical learning and instruction. The chapters deal with the research on, and conceptual analysis of, specific arithmetic topics (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, decimals, and fractions) or with overarching themes that pervade the early curriculum and constitute the links with the more advanced topics of mathematics (intuition, number sense, and estimation). Serving as a link between the communities of cognitive researchers and mathematics educators, the book capitalizes on the recent research successes of cognitive science and reviews the literature of the math education community as well.