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In the Numerical Reasoning content courses, K-20 teachers of mathematics deepen their understanding of mathematics content. Teachers engage with mathematics content within an optimal learning environment, and are well prepared to help a range of learners use mathematics to make sense of situations and information in the world.
Numerical Reasoning
Developing & Assessing Mathematics Understanding
“When children are given the chance to compute in their own ways, to play with relationships and operations, they see themselves as mathematicians and their understanding deepens. Such playing with numbers forms the basis for algebra and will take children a long way in being able to compute not only efficiently but elegantly!” Fosnot & Dolk, Young Mathematicians at Work: Constructing Number Sense, Addition, and Subtraction, pg. 151
MEC’s Numerical Reasoning content course offers robust mathematics to support teachers as they develop computational fluency, flexibility and efficiency. Participants have the opportunity to learn mathematics content within an environment that models optimal classroom practice.
The range of learners in each MEC course provides direct experience addressing instructional needs of a wide range of learners. In this setting, participants in all MEC content courses develop an increased understanding of how to design appropriate interventions for struggling learners as well as for successful learners.
Participants will develop and/or deepen their understanding of the following:
- concepts and properties of the real number system (e.g. factorization, multiplicative and additive identities, additive and multiplicative inverses, commutative, associative, and distributive properties, etc.);
- multiple models for rational numbers and algorithms for computing with rational numbers;
- proportional reasoning to solve a variety of problems;
- mathematically convincing arguments that include geometric and algebraic representations;
- strategies for computing mentally;
- investigation as an integral part of mathematical proficiency;
- learning mathematics through problem solving.
Prerequisite: MEC Patterns: Foundations for Algebraic Reasoning course.
Audience: Educators.