Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Mathematics is not (only) a language
Posted by: Gary Ernest Davis on: January 9, 2010
Every so often someone will assert that mathematics is a language. What  concerns me about the statement “mathematics is a a language”  is what I am not hearing directly: “mathematics is ONLY a language”  which I worry is implicit. For example in an interview, Paul Samuelson,  said: Well, my belief is that nothing that can […]
Richard Skemp's Relational Understanding and Instrumental Understanding
Posted by: Gary Ernest Davis on: January 8, 2010
In 1976 Richard Skemp published an important discussion paper spelling out the differences between relational and instrumental understanding as they apply to mathematical teaching and learning. His paper discusses matters that are as important and relevant to the practice of teaching mathematics now as they were when he wrote, 34 years ago. Instrumental teaching is […]
