Springer Teaching with Tasks for Effective Mathematics Learning: 9 (Mathematics Teacher Education, 9)

This book shows how teachers can use classroom mathematics tasks to support student learning, presenting data on the ways in which teachers used those tasks in a specific research project. Demonstrates how use of mathematics can promote effective learning. Review From the reviews: “In this book, Sullivan, Clarke and Clarke make an important contribution to the growing literature on mathematics tasks as they outline the findings from their three-year project Task Types in Mathematics Learning … . This book underlines the value of research-designed and collaboratively-developed mathematics tasks. … this book will be very widely read, and that the tasks found here, and others like them, will be able to benefit many more students of mathematics.” (Colin Foster, Research in Mathematics Education, Vol. 15 (3), 2013)“The authors discuss a wide variety of classroom mathematical tasks that may enhance the learning of mathematics for students and also make the teaching of mathematics more enjovable. This book also provides some student feedback to certain tasks. The authors study in depth how teachers act when using tasks.” (Fiacre O’Cairbre, zbMATH, Vol. 1268, 2013) From the Back Cover Using classroom mathematics tasks to support student learning is the topic of this timely volume. Employing research-based data, the authors focus on teacher practice as well as teacher and student learning and knowledge creation to demonstrate the use of mathematics tasks which promote effective student understanding. Unique in the field, the book provides a thorough, comprehensive guide to the nature of tasks for researchers, teacher educators, curriculum designers, administrators and teachers. Chapters on the effective implementation of mathematics tasks in the classroom, distinct pedagogical concepts related to teaching with mathematics tasks, and sample lessons that clearly demonstrate successful uses for mathematics tasks in the classroom are included.  The book is designed to provide a mix of cutting-edge data on task use with concrete examples of successful tasks and implementation tactics.  All of the lesson plans and illustrative examples provided have been extensively evaluated and tested in actual learning situations and feature specific suggestions for combating student difficulties and promoting solution pathways. This is a book that is essential for anyone hoping to understand both the importance of mathematics tasks for enhancing student learning and ways in which mathematics tasks can be applied in the classroom to achieve learning goals and objectives. About the Author Peter Sullivan is Professor of Science, Mathematics and Technology at Monash University. His main professional achievements are in the field of research. His recent research includes four Australian Research Council grants funded projects: He is an author of the popular teacher resource Open-ended maths activities: Using good questions to enhance learning that is published in the US as Good questions for math teaching. Doug Clarke is a Professor of Mathematics Education at the Australian Catholic University (Victoria), where he directs the Mathematics Teaching and Learning Research Centre. In recent years, Doug has worked on four Australian Research Council grants, focusing on integrating mathematics and science, the role of tasks in mathematics learning, encouraging student persistence while working on challenging tasks, and providing appropriate support for teachers implementing national curricula, respectively. Doug’s professional interests include young children’s mathematical learning, using mathematics to explore current events and students' interests, the role of task-based assessment interviews with students, problem solving and investigations, manageable and meaningful assessment, and the professional growth of mathematics teachers. Barbara Clarke is an Associate Professor in Mathematics Education at M