Mathematics education research

Children's Mathematical Frameworks 8 - 13:
A Study of Classroom Teaching

Kathleen Hart, David C Johnson (ed), Margaret Brown, Linda Dickson and Rod Clarkson; Routledge (formerly NFER Nelson, 1989).
Price in UK pounds: £14.

This book reports on the work of an ESRC research project at the Centre for Science and Mathematics Education, King's College, London. It describes in detail how children learn and generalize specific mathematical relationships. Interviews illustrate important aspects of their thinking during key stages of learning. As well as highlighting areas of difficulty, these descriptions enable the reader to perceive the essence of how mathematics is understood by children, as they move from introductory activities to more formal representations.

Among the topics covered by different chapters are -

• Place Value: Subtraction,
• Fractions,
• Circumference of a Circle,
• Area of a Rectangle,
• Volume of a Cuboid,
• Equations,
• Ratio: Enlargement.

The book provides comprehensive information on how mathematical concepts are commonly presented and interpreted, and the problems children encounter in attempting to understand and apply them.