Doing, Learning, and Understanding Mathematics

Now that you have explored the elementary math content standards and the concepts behind some specific standards, as well as sample lessons that can be used in a classroom, is there a difference between doing, learning, and understanding mathematics? Hopefully, you will have recognized that there is a difference. It is possible for students to simply ‘do’ math without fully understanding how or why it works. When students are learning math, what is it they are learning? How can you assess that students are understanding the concepts? Answering these questions requires you to be fully aware of the underlying concepts, why algorithms work, how to guide your students through the discovery process and how to properly assess their understanding of the concepts.

Read the following resources:

Francis, E.M. (2014). Doing math vs. thinking mathematically: What’s the difference. Maverick Education. http://maverikeducation.blogspot.com/2014/05/doing-math-vsthinking-mathematically.html

Pearson Higher Ed. (n.d.). Teaching Mathematics for Understanding. [PDF]. https://www.pearsonhighered.com/assets/samplechapter/0/1/3/2/0132824876.pdf

Van de Walle, J.A., Karp, K.S., & Bay-Williams, J.M. (2019). Exploring what it means to know and do mathematics. In Elementary and middle school mathematics: Teaching developmentally. Pearson. https://people.wou.edu/~fleschb/Math611/KnowandDoMath.pdf

View this video:

Lee, J. (2015, October 15). Knowing math to teach [Video]. YouTube.

Assignment:

To complete this assignment, in an essay of at least 500 words, explain the difference between doing, learning, and understanding mathematics. Support your opinion with a scholarly source that was not provided in the course.

Reflect on your experience, either as a student or a teacher, of a concept in which it was clear that some students were doing, some were learning, and some were understanding.

Once you have completed the assignment, save a copy in MS Word format (.doc or .docx) and use the tool below to upload a copy of your work.