A new book that focuses on "interactive teaching", a new, more effective technique for helping elementary-school children learn mathematics. KEY TOPICS: It has an interactive teaching approach, with its focus on reasoning, problem-solving, and communicating, has been proven effective with children at all levels of mathematics competence. Coverage examines the use of models and children's intuitive understanding to help young learners develop mathematics concepts and learn problem- solving procedures. Includes a chapter devoted to using interactive teaching with children with special needs. For educators in the field of mathematics.

This single-volume reference is designed for readers and researchers investigating national and international aspects of mathematics education at the elementary, secondary, and post-secondary levels. It contains more than 400 entries, arranged alphabetically by headings of greatest pertinence to mathematics education. The scope is comprehensive, encompassing all major areas of mathematics education, including assessment, content and instructional procedures, curriculum, enrichment, international comparisons, and psychology of learning and instruction.

"The ancient Greeks argued that the best life was filled with beauty, truth, justice, play and love. The mathematician Francis Su knows just where to find them."--Kevin Hartnett, Quanta Magazine" This is perhaps the most important mathematics book of our time. Francis Su shows mathematics is an experience of the mind and, most important, of the heart."--James Tanton, Global Math Project For mathematician Francis Su, a society without mathematical affection is like a city without concerts, parks, or museums. To miss out on mathematics is to live without experiencing some of humanity's most beautiful ideas. In this profound book, written for a wide audience but especially for those disenchanted by their past experiences, an award-winning mathematician and educator weaves parables, puzzles, and personal reflections to show how mathematics meets basic human desires--such as for play, beauty, freedom, justice, and love--and cultivates virtues essential for human flourishing. These desires and virtues, and the stories told here, reveal how mathematics is intimately tied to being human. Some lessons emerge from those who have struggled, including philosopher Simone Weil, whose own mathematical contributions were overshadowed by her brother's, and Christopher Jackson, who discovered mathematics as an inmate in a federal prison. Christopher's letters to the author appear throughout the book and show how this intellectual pursuit can--and must--be open to all.