Narrow Results

Investigating the relationship between mathematics learning and games, we find that games and mathematics are very closely related. In our workshop, we give a brief review of the results to our research, and share our experiences about the series of activities. Then we hold a small Mathematics Festival.

I examine the question of why language diversity matters in mathematics education, offering four responses, illustrated with examples drawn from my research. The four responses look at the nature of language diversity, its role in learning and teaching mathematics, its connection with social stratification, and its connection with the ecological crises faced by our planet.

Mathematics education in eastern Asian countries emphasizes the importance of foundations, and in Mainland China the principle of "basic knowledge and basic skills" was explicitly put forward for the teaching of mathematics. This chapter analyzes in a detailed way the benefits and inadequacies of this principle and the practice arising from it from four aspects, namely, its historical roots and social environment, the goals of classroom teaching, teaching characteristics and underlying psychological principles, and education reforms and development in China. The different characteristics of Eastern and Western mathematics education can be complementary to each other, helping strike a balance between foundation and development concerning classroom teaching.

This chapter begins with a literature review of the role of cram schools and how parents and children perceive them in Taiwan. Interviews were conducted to understand the view of primary school teachers concerning the impact of cram schools on school mathematics learning and instruction. Despite controversial opinions on the merits of cram schools, their growing popularity can be attributed to the increasing demand from parents and children. On the one hand, primary school teachers perceive a positive impact of cram school attendance on children's mathematics learning, as evidenced by better computation skills, completion of homework, and greater self-confidence in mathematics. However, they disagree with rote-learning emphasized in cram school instruction and criticize its failure to develop concepts among children. Cram schools have a negative influence on children's understanding of mathematical concepts as well as flexible application of knowledge. Suggestions for improving children's mathematics ability and learning in cram schools are made.

This chapter reports an experimental program on mathematics learning in one primary school in Shanghai, China. The following research questions were addressed: By means of different representations, could Chinese children exhibit their individual cognitive structures (functional versus predicative)? What effects did the different representations have on children's constructing mathematics concepts? Could the children be facilitated to actively learn and think, and to self reflect on their learning process? In the experimental program, children were encouraged to select partial representation by solving mathematics problems. It was shown that children could think in relation or in function of mathematics objects and learn to reflect on their learning process. They could experience the benefits of external representations and manifest the interest in active learning.

Coherence has been identified as an important factor in fostering students' learning of mathematics. In this chapter, by applying classroom discourse theories, we propose a framework for examining instructional coherence through a fine-grained analysis of a video-taped lesson from China. The lesson was chosen because it has been recognized as a model lesson for instructional coherence. Based on a careful analysis of instructional coherence on multiple levels of classroom discourse, we explored discourse strategies the teacher used to achieve instructional coherence in the classroom, as well as the features of classroom instruction in China.