The Mathematics Education of Elementary Teachers: Issues and Strategies for Content Courses

147 Pages·2016·3.426 MB·English

by  Lynn C. Hart, Susan Oesterle, Susan Swars Auslander

The Mathematics
Education of
Elementary Teachers
Issues and Strategies for
Content Courses

The Mathematics
Education of
Elementary Teachers
Issues and Strategies for
Content Courses
edited by
Lynn C. Hart
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA, United States
Susan Oesterle
Douglas College
New Westminster, BC, Canada
Susan Swars Auslander
Georgia State University
Atlanta, GA, United States
Ann Kajander
Lakehead University
Thunder Bay, ON, Canada
INFORMATION AGE PUBLISHING, INC.
Charlotte, NC • www.infoagepub.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hart, Lynn Cecilia, 1948- editor.
Title: The mathematics education of elementary teachers : issues and
strategies for content courses / edited by Lynn C. Hart, Monash University
Faculty of Education, Melbourne, Australia [and three others]. Description:
Charlotte, NC : Information Age Publishing, Inc., [2016] | Includes
bibliographical references.Identifiers: LCCN 2016027026 (print) | LCCN
2016028423 (ebook) | ISBN 978-1-68123-572-1 (paperback) |
ISBN 978-1-68123-573-8 (hardcover) | ISBN 978-1-68123-574-5 (ebook) |
ISBN 978-1-68123-574-5 (EBook) Subjects: LCSH:
Mathematics--Study and teaching (Elementary) | Elementary school
teachers--Training of. | Mathematics teachers--Training of. Classification:
LCC QA135.6 .M3798 2016 (print) | LCC QA135.6 (ebook) | DDC
372.7--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016027026
Copyright © 2016 Information Age Publishing Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechani-
cal, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permis-
sion from the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America
Dedication
This book is dedicated to those committed to the mathematical development of
prospective elementary teachers, particularly those who teach mathematics content
courses. This crucial work is central to the advancement of mathematics educa-
tion, impacting both future elementary teachers and the students they will teach.

CONTENTS
Preface
Lynn C. Hart, Susan Oesterle,
Susan Swars Auslander, and Ann Kajander ..........................................i
Chapter 1. Elementary Mathematics Is Not Trivial
Lynn C. Hart, Melfried Ol Olson, and Susan Oesterle ...........................1
Chapter 2. When Is a Mathematical Task a Good Task?
Ziv Feldman, Eva Thanheiser, Rachael M. Welder,
Jennifer M. Tobias, Amy F. Hillen, and Dana Olanoff ...........................9
Chapter 3. Using Children’s Thinking to Develop Mathematical
Content Knowledge
Christine A. Browning, Jennifer L. Harrison, Ryan Harrison,
Yi-Yin (Winnie) Ko, Nicole Panorkou, and Margaret A. Yoder .............25
Chapter 4. Mathematical Habits of Mind
Susan Oesterle, Melfried Olson, Stephen Hwang,
Hannah Slovin, Judith Olson, Jaclyn Murawska,
Jennifer Holm, and Cristina Caputo Lewitton .....................................51
Chapter 5. Attending to Prospective Elementary Teachers’
Mathematical Affect
Susan Swars Auslander .....................................................................87
vii
viii CONTENTS
Chapter 6. Three International Examples of Mathematics Content
Courses for Elementary Teachers
Ann Kajander, Gayle Millsaps, Reidar Mosvold,
Diana Underwood-Gregg, and Jennifer Holm ....................................103
About the Authors .................................................................................123
PREFACE
Lynn C. Hart, Susan Oesterle,
Susan Swars Auslander, and Ann Kajander
In North America, and in many places around the world, elementary
teachers are typically expected to be generalists who are able to teach a
broad range of subjects to their pupils. Because of this, it is common that
in order to qualify for teacher certification, prospective elementary teachers
are expected to take courses that prepare them to teach mathematics,
whether or not this is a subject area that appeals to them. The requirements
vary, but courses can usually be classified as either “content” courses, which
focus on the mathematics, or “methods” courses, which focus on pedagogy.
Methods courses are typically taught within education departments, while
content courses may be offered within either mathematics or education
departments, depending on the institution. Our primary concern in this
book is the mathematics preparation of prospective elementary teachers,
specifically in mathematics content courses. Typically, these content courses
fall into one of two broad categories: (1) general mathematics courses (logic,
combinatorics, finite mathematics topics, basic statistics, problem solving,
etc.) that may or may not be open to all students, including mathematics
majors, or (2) courses that survey school mathematics topics that are targeted
for prospective teachers. We refer to the latter courses as Mathematics for
Teachers (MfT) courses.
The Mathematics Education of Elementary Teachers:
Issues and Strategies for Content Courses, pp. i–ix
Copyright © 2016 by Information Age Publishing
All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. i