Reconceptualizing Mathematics () & MathPortal Sowder, Judith Sowder, Larry and Nickerson, Susan

Reconceptualizing Mathematics, founded on research and studies of learning and mathematics teaching for many years, is designed for use in classrooms in which students take an active part in learning and experience doing math.  The esteemed author team has written the only textbook of its kind to both incorporate aspects of student-centered learning into lessons and model the teaching that will be expected of their students. To this end, the authors provide worthwhile tasks, activities, and support for facilitating discussions.

Quantitative reasoning and problem solving are recurring themes in Reconceptualizing Mathematics. The authors approach problem solving that teaches students to understand the quantities embedded in the situation and how they relate to each other.

Judith Sowder is a Professor Emerita of Mathematics and Statistics at San Diego State University. Her research has focused on the development of number sense and on the instructional effects of teachers' mathematical knowledge at the elementary and middle school level. She served from 1996 to 2000 as editor of the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education and served a three-year term on the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Board of Directors. She has directed numerous projects funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Education. In 2000 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.Larry Sowder is Professor Emeritus of Mathematics and Statistics at San Diego State University. He taught mathematics to preservice elementary school teachers for more than 30 years. His work in a special program in San Diego elementary schools also shaped his convictions about how courses in mathematics for preservice teachers should be pitched, as did his joint research investigating how children in the usual Grades 4-8 curriculum solve "story" problems. He served on teh National Research Council Committee that published Educating Teachers of Science, Mathematics, and Technology(NRC, 2001).Susan Nickerson is an Associate Professor in San Diego State University's Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Her research interest is long-term professional development of elementary and middle school teachers. In particular, her focus is describing, analyzing, and understanding effective contexts that promote teachers' knowledge of mathematics and mathematics teaching."