Visual thinking - visual imagination or perception of diagrams and symbol arrays, and mental operations on them - is omnipresent in mathematics. Is this visual thinking merely a psychological aid, facilitating grasp of what is gathered by other means? Or does it also have epistemological functions, as a means of discovery, understanding, and even proof? By examining the many kinds of visual representation in mathematics and the diverse ways in which they are used, Marcus Giaquinto argues that visual thinking in mathematics is rarely just a superfluous aid; it usually has epistemological value, often as a means of discovery. Drawing from philosophical work on the nature of concepts and from empirical studies of visual perception, mental imagery, and numerical cognition, Giaquinto explores a major source of our grasp of mathematics, using examples from basic geometry, arithmetic, algebra, and real analysis. He shows how we can discern abstract general truths by means of specific images, how synthetic a priori knowledge is possible, and how visual means can help us grasp abstract structures. Visual Thinking in Mathematics reopens the investigation of earlier thinkers from Plato to Kant into the nature and epistemology of an individual's basic mathematical beliefs and abilities, in the new light shed by the maturing cognitive sciences. Clear and concise throughout, it will appeal to scholars and students of philosophy, mathematics, and psychology, as well as anyone with an interest in mathematical thinking.

Logic, the discipline that explores valid reasoning, does not need to be limited to a specific form of representation but should include any form as long as it allows us to draw sound conclusions from given information. The use of diagrams has a long but unequal history in logic: The golden age of diagrammatic logic of the 19th century thanks to Euler and Venn diagrams was followed by the early 20th century's symbolization of modern logic by Frege and Russell. Recently, we have been witnessing a revival of interest in diagrams from various disciplines - mathematics, logic, philosophy, cognitive science, and computer science. This book aims to provide a space for this newly debated topic - the logical status of diagrams - in order to advance the goal of universal logic by exploring common and/or unique features of visual reasoning.

In the 20th century philosophy of mathematics has to a great extent been dominated by views developed during the so-called foundational crisis in the beginning of that century. These views have primarily focused on questions pertaining to the logical structure of mathematics and questions regarding the justi?cation and consistency of mathematics. Paradigmatic in this - spect is Hilbert’s program which inherits from Frege and Russell the project to formalize all areas of ordinary mathematics and then adds the requi- ment of a proof, by epistemically privileged means (?nitistic reasoning), of the consistency of such formalized theories. While interest in modi?ed v- sions of the original foundational programs is still thriving, in the second part of the twentieth century several philosophers and historians of mat- matics have questioned whether such foundational programs could exhaust the realm of important philosophical problems to be raised about the nature of mathematics. Some have done so in open confrontation (and hostility) to the logically based analysis of mathematics which characterized the cl- sical foundational programs, while others (and many of the contributors to this book belong to this tradition) have only called for an extension of the range of questions and problems that should be raised in connection with an understanding of mathematics. The focus has turned thus to a consideration of what mathematicians are actually doing when they produce mathematics. Questions concerning concept-formation, understanding, heuristics, changes instyle of reasoning, the role of analogies and diagrams etc.

What does it mean to have a visual representation of a mathematical object, concept, or process? What visualization strategies support growth in mathematical thinking, reasoning, generalization, and knowledge? Is mathematical seeing culture-free? How can information drawn from studies in blind subjects help us understand the significance of a multimodal approach to learning mathematics? Toward a Visually-Oriented School Mathematics Curriculum explores a unified theory of visualization in school mathematical learning via the notion of progressive modeling. Based on the author’s longitudinal research investigations in elementary and middle school classrooms, the book provides a compelling empirical account of ways in which instruction can effectively orchestrate the transition from personally-constructed visuals, both externally-drawn and internally-derived, into more structured visual representations within the context of a socioculturally grounded mathematical activity. Both for teachers and researchers, a discussion of this topic is relevant in the history of the present. The ubiquity of technological tools and virtual spaces for learning and doing mathematics has aroused interest among concerned stakeholders about the role of mathematics in these contexts. The book begins with a prolegomenon on the author’s reflections on past and present visual studies in mathematics education. In the remaining seven chapters, visualization is pursued in terms of its role in bringing about progressions in mathematical symbolization, abduction, pattern generalization, and diagrammatization. Toward a Visually-Oriented School Mathematics Curriculum views issues surrounding visualization through the eyes of a classroom teacher-researcher; it draws on findings within and outside of mathematics education that help practitioners and scholars gain a better understanding of what it means to pleasurably experience the symmetric visual/symbolic reversal phenomenon – that is, seeing the visual in the symbolic and the symbolic in the visual."

This monograph is a defence of the Fregean take on logic. The author argues that Frege ́s projects, in logic and philosophy of language, are essentially connected and that the formalist shift produced by the work of Peano, Boole and Schroeder and continued by Hilbert and Tarski is completely alien to Frege's approach in the Begriffsschrift. A central thesis of the book is that judgeable contents, i.e. propositions, are the primary bearers of logical properties, which makes logic embedded in our conceptual system. This approach allows coherent and correct definitions of logical constants, logical consequence, and truth and connects their use to the practices of rational agents in science and everyday life.

Compilation of the research produced by the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME) since its creation in 1976. The first three sections summarize cognitively-oriented research on learning and teaching specific content areas, transversal areas, and based on technology-rich environments. The fourth section is devoted to the research on social, affective, cultural and cognitive aspects of mathematics education. The fifth section includes two chapters summarizing the PME research on teacher training and professional life of mathematics teachers.

ALAN J. BISHOP Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia RATIONALE Mathematics Education is becoming a well-documented field with many books, journals and international conferences focusing on a variety of aspects relating to theory, research and practice. That documentation also reflects the fact that the field has expanded enormously in the last twenty years. At the 8th International Congress on Mathematics Education (ICME) in Seville, Spain, for example, there were 26 specialist Working Groups and 26 special ist Topic Groups, as well as a host of other group activities. In 1950 the 'Commission Internationale pour I 'Etude et l' Amelioration de l'Enseignement des Mathematiques' (CIEAEM) was formed and twenty years ago another active group, the 'International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education' (PME), began at the third ICME at Karlsruhe in 1976. Since then several other specialist groups have been formed, and are also active through regular conferences and publications, as documented in Edward Jacobsen's Chapter 34 in this volume.

This unique volume surveys recent research on spatial visualization in mathematics in the fields of cognitive psychology and mathematics education. The general topic of spatial skill and mathematics has a long research tradition, but has been gaining attention in recent years, although much of this research happens in disconnected subfields. This volume aims to promote interaction between researchers, not only to provide a more comprehensive view of spatial visualization and mathematics, but also to stimulate innovative new directions in research based on a more coordinated effort. It features ten chapters authored by leading researchers in cognitive psychology and mathematics education, as well as includes dynamic commentaries by mathematics education researchers on cognitive psychology chapters, and by cognitive psychologists on mathematics education chapters. Among the topics included: From intuitive spatial measurement to understanding of units. Spatial reasoning: a critical problem-solving tool in children’s mathematics strategy tool-kit. What processes underlie the relation between spatial skill and mathematics? Learning with and from drawing in early years geometry. Communication of visual information and complexity of reasoning by mathematically talented students. Visualizing Mathematics makes substantial progress in understanding the role of spatial reasoning in mathematical thought and in connecting various subfields of research. It promises to make an impact among psychologists, education scholars, and mathematics educators in the convergence of psychology and education.

Engage students in mathematics using growth mindset techniques The most challenging parts of teaching mathematics are engaging students and helping them understand the connections between mathematics concepts. In this volume, you'll find a collection of low floor, high ceiling tasks that will help you do just that, by looking at the big ideas at the seventh-grade level through visualization, play, and investigation. During their work with tens of thousands of teachers, authors Jo Boaler, Jen Munson, and Cathy Williams heard the same message—that they want to incorporate more brain science into their math instruction, but they need guidance in the techniques that work best to get across the concepts they needed to teach. So the authors designed Mindset Mathematics around the principle of active student engagement, with tasks that reflect the latest brain science on learning. Open, creative, and visual math tasks have been shown to improve student test scores, and more importantly change their relationship with mathematics and start believing in their own potential. The tasks in Mindset Mathematics reflect the lessons from brain science that: There is no such thing as a math person - anyone can learn mathematics to high levels. Mistakes, struggle and challenge are the most important times for brain growth. Speed is unimportant in mathematics. Mathematics is a visual and beautiful subject, and our brains want to think visually about mathematics. With engaging questions, open-ended tasks, and four-color visuals that will help kids get excited about mathematics, Mindset Mathematics is organized around nine big ideas which emphasize the connections within the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and can be used with any current curriculum.