Mathematics Teaching 159 - June 1997

Editorial - Barbara Ball

There are arithmetical skills which all children are entitled to learn. These skills need to be taught effectively and this has nothing to do with either permitting or banning calculators.

News and Views from Conference - ATM

We would like to see more rime made available for consultation on all new initiatives in the future.

Letters - Cristine Hopkins; Heather Davis; Harvey Blair

To meet so many teachers so committed to teaching maths in an inspirational way was heartening and renewed my own commitment to enabling my pupils to see the wonder in mathematics.

Some lessons in mathematics: a comparison of mathematics teaching in Japan and America - Keith Jones

We all want to help children learn mathematics more effectively. Keith Jones discusses the results of an international study which might tell us how to do this.

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Reflections upon the assessment of mathematics - Barry Litherland

It is important that the teacher not only is aware of how he or she views the task and of how he or she sees its assessment potential, but also reflects on the way in which the child learns from the task.

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Do as you are told! - Tony Brown

We need to be sensitive to some of the limitations of strategies involving explanation.

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Spherical geometry reading book - Jan van den Brink

How can we make teachers and students familiar with this sometimes bizarre world of spherical geometry? Is every one able to teach it? Which topics must definitely be offered, and which not?

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Learning probability: misconceptions and all - David Crawford

The intuitive methods children use when solving simple equations are mirrored by the intuitive ideas most children possess about probability and chance.

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Make a change to make a difference - Heather Scott

Being committed to making a change to make a difference will enable us to reach our goals more quickly. Sharing what we do with each other may help us to be more effective for all the pupils we teach.

Some investigations about mathematical talk - Barbara Jaworski and Janis Hall

We had been looking at powers of numbers and we had developed a table of the powers of all the numbers up to 20 up to the twentieth power but we had only recorded the unit's digit.

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Communicating Mathematics - ATM and MA working group

In order to develop both English and mathematical communication skills students need opportunities to hear and to speak, to read and to write in the target languages. All students need opportunities to develop concepts, to discuss their work and to learn relevant vocabulary.

Reviews - ATM

Mathematics explained for primary teachers; Reconceiving mathematics instruction: a focus on errors.

Personal View - Sam Costello

Problems first or skills first? There are plenty of hints about the sorts of maths you could get involved in. Oddly, probability - gambling and the National Lottery - does not feature.

For the Classroom: Mathematics and collective worship - Steven Downes

The main objective of teaching mathematics should be to doubt, to enquire, to discover, to see alternatives and most of all to be an instrument in changing attitudes, convictions and perspectives.

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