Best Practices of Teaching Mathematics

Teaching Practices
Increase Emphasis:

Decrease Emphasis:

Use of manipulative materials.

Rote practice.

Cooperative group work.

Rote memorization of rules and formulas.

Discussion of mathematics through

questioning and making conjectures.

Single answer and single methods to find

answers.

Justification of thinking.

Use of drill worksheets.

Writing about mathematics.

Repetitive written practice.

Problem-solving approach to instruction.

Teaching by telling.

Content integration.

Teaching computation out of contact.

Use of calculators and computers.

Stressing memorization.

Being a facilitator of learning.

Testing for grades only.

Assessing learning as an integral part of

instruction.

Being the dispenser of knowledge.

Mathematics as Problem Solving

Increase Emphasis:

Decrease Emphasis:

Word problems with a variety of structures

and solution paths.

Use of cue words to determine operation to

be used.

Everyday problems and applications.

Practicing routine, one-step problems.

Problem solving strategies.

Open-ended problems and extended
problem solving projects.
Investigation and formulating questions
from problem situations.

Practicing problems categorized by types.

Mathematics as Communication
Discussing mathematics.

Doing fill-in-the-blank worksheets.

Reading mathematics.

Answering questions that need only yes or

no responses.

Writing mathematics.

Answering questions that need only

numerical responses.

Mathematics as Reasoning
Drawing logical conclusions.
Justifying answers and solution process.
Reasoning inductively and deductively.

Relying on authorities (teacher, answer

key).

Mathematical Connections
Connecting mathematics to other subjects
and to the real world.

Learning isolated topics.

Developing skills out of context.

Connecting topics within mathematics.

Early use of symbolic notation.

Applying mathematics.

Complex and tedious paper-and-pencil

computations.
Memorizing rules and procedures without
understanding.

Numbers/Operations/Computation
Increase Emphasis:
Developing number and operation sense.
Understanding the meaning of key
concepts such as place value, fractions,
decimals, ratios, proportions, and percents.
Various estimation strategies.
Thinking strategies for basic facts.
Using calculators for complex calculations

Decrease Emphasis:
Memorization of key values and
mathematical strategies without
understanding.

Geometry/Measurement
Increase Emphasis:

Decrease Emphasis:

Developing spatial sense.

Memorizing facts and relationships.

Actual measuring and the concepts related

to units of measure.

Memorizing equivalencies between units of

measure.

Using geometry in problem solving.

Memorizing geometric formulas.

Statistics/Probability
Increase Emphasis:

Decrease Emphasis:

Collection and organization of data.

Using statistical methods to describe,
analyze, evaluate, and make decisions.

Memorizing formulas.

Patters/Functions/Algebra
Increase Emphasis:

Decrease Emphasis:

Pattern recognition.
Identifying and using functional
relationships.

Manipulating symbols.

Developing and using tables, graphs, and

rules to describe situations.
Using variable to express relationships.

Memorizing procedures and drilling.

Evaluation
Increase Emphasis:

Decrease Emphasis:

Using assessment as an integral part of

teaching.

Using assessment as simply counting

correct answers on tests for the sole
purpose of assigning grades.

Focusing on broad range of mathematical

tasks and taking a holistic view of
mathematics.

Focusing on a large number of specific and

isolated skills.

Developing problem situations that require

applications of a number of mathematical
ideas.

Using exercises or word problems

requiring only one or two skills.

Using multiple assessment techniques,

including written, oral, and demonstration
formats.

Using only written tests.