The How and Why of Teaching Elementary Mathematics

Robert P. Hunting

Mar 2014 · PALM-Ed Pty Ltd

About this ebook

The first edition of The How and Why of Teaching Elementary Mathematics is a resource of over 280 questions and answers spanning a range of topics central to successful and effective mathematics teaching. It represents all I know (and some things I didn’t know) based in large part on decades of experience providing training courses, workshops and lectures to elementary teachers and teachers-to-be in mathematics curriculum, learning, teaching, and assessment, both in Australia and the United States.

Content is grouped into 13 broad topics:

• Manipulatives, Aids, and Concrete Materials 

• Attitudes, Beliefs, and Culture

• Chance and Data

• Assessment and Learning Theory

• Early Number Leading to Place Value

• Geometry

• Measurement

• Number facts and Basic Operations

• Whole Number Computation

• Fractions, Decimals, Ratio, and Proportion

• Number Systems, Principles, and Number Sense

• Pattern

• Problem Solving

The core audience for this book includes practicing elementary teachers, teachers-in-training, and mathematics teacher educators. Parents and carers interested in detailed explanations for methods of mathematics teaching used in modern elementary classrooms would also benefit from having access to this resource.

About the author

The majority of my working life has been spent as a senior education researcher and teacher with broad-based experience in mathematics teacher training and a specialist in children’s mathematics learning. I have held senior academic positions in Australia and the United States. My research interests include early mathematics learning, rational number learning, teaching experiment methodologies, teacher education, and curriculum issues in mathematics education. I have recently established an e-publishing business called the Partnership for Advancing the Learning of Mathematics (PALM). PALM aims to communicate to a general audience information about mathematics and how children learn it. My most recent book is What Children Can Teach Adults About Mathematics. I have earned degrees from The University of New England, Monash, and the University of Georgia. I am married to Rosemary, and we have three married children and 5 grandchildren (so far).