Monograph No. 2: MATHEMATICS TEACHING – The State of the Art

MATHEMATICS TEACHING – The State of the Art

September 1974

Publication of the Mathematics Council of The Alberta Teachers’ Association

EDITORIAL

The Time: October 4-6, 1973
The Place: Chateau Lacombe, Edmonton
The Event: Edmonton Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)

Approximately 700 mathematics teachers from Canada and the United States attended the Edmonton meeting of the NCTM last October. The Mathematics Council of The Alberta Teachers’ Association hosted the successful meeting.

This monograph contains the general session and general interest session speeches given at the convention.

PURPOSE OF THE MONOGRAPH

The purpose of this monograph is three-fold. First, to make available to MCATA members the thinking of some mathematics educators. Many of the speakers made recommendations regarding teaching strategies, program development, future trends and other important aspects of mathematics education. You should find many interesting, challenging and even controversial ideas in this monograph.

A second purpose is to make available the sessions you may have missed because you chose to attend another simultaneous session.

Finally, this publication provides you with a reference for the ideas you heard. Perhaps you have already been in the position where you have said, “Someone at the convention was talking about that, what did he say?” Many of the ideas you heard are included in this monograph for your reference.

Those who were unable to attend the convention will find this monograph to be a valuable source of current ideas in mathematics education. Perhaps it will whet their appetite for the next convention sponsored by MCATA.

ORGANIZATION

The elementary general session speeches (Gibb, Immerzeel, Cathcart) are printed first. These are followed by the junior high (Bezuszka, Clary, Wells) and the senior high (Manning, Del Grande) general sessions. The last section contains the general interest session talks (Schaaf, Harrison, Cohen).

The addresses given by Dr. Eugene Smith and Dr. Eugene Nichols were not available for publication. We apologize to those readers who may have wanted to see one or both of these in print. Dr. Smith’s keynote address is available on tape from the Department of Education.

THANKS

The MCATA executive extends thanks to Dick Daly (general chairman) and Stuart McCormick (program chairman) for organizing a successful and worthwhile convention. A word of thanks is also due the headquarters staff of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics for their part in the organization and operation of the convention.

The editor would like to thank those speakers who provided him with a copy of their speech. This reduced the editor’s workload and guaranteed accuracy of the ideas presented. He also wants to thank those speakers who revised the edited version of their speech which had been transcribed from tape.

Thanks to all of you who attended the Edmonton meeting of the NCTM – your attendance contributed to the success of the meeting.

W. George CathCart

1 – 2

Front Matter

3 – 4

Editorial

W. George CathCart

5 – 12

Through the Eyes of our Students

E. GLENADINE GIBB

13 – 25

When is the Thing the Thing?