Adults' Mathematical Thinking and Emotions
A Study of Numerate Practice
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This hardback is available in another edition too:
- Paperback£21.99(9780750709125)
This insightful book explores the challenges of math education, addressing critical issues like math anxiety and the impact of social factors on learning. Adults' Mathematical Thinking and Emotions offers practical solutions.
The challenges surrounding the teaching and learning of mathematics, as well as its application in everyday life and work, are multifaceted. Adults' Mathematical Thinking and Emotions delves into these complexities by examining several critical issues within mathematics education and numeracy. The book identifies a range of factors contributing to the current crisis, including the questionable applicability of school mathematics to real-world scenarios and the declining enrollment in advanced mathematics courses. Additionally, it highlights the exclusion of certain demographics, particularly women, and the widespread aversion many individuals feel toward mathematics.
In addressing these issues, Adults' Mathematical Thinking and Emotions explores several key problems in the field. It investigates the differences among various social groups, particularly those influenced by gender and social class. The book emphasizes the crucial link between cognition and emotion in mathematical activities, shedding light on how feelings can impact learning and performance. Furthermore, it provides insights into the phenomenon of math anxiety through traditional psychological, psychoanalytical, and feminist lenses, offering a comprehensive understanding of this prevalent issue.
The author's findings present practical implications for education and training, aiming to clarify the challenges of transferring learning and to develop strategies for alleviating math anxiety. By focusing on the context of adults' numerate thinking and performance, this book contributes valuable perspectives to the ongoing discourse in mathematics education.
'Jeff Evans' book is a welcome contribution to the developing literature on adults learning mathematics and a worthy addition to Paul Ernest's excellent Studies in Mathematics Education series.' - Diana Cohen, Studies in the Education of Adults
'Evans' intellectual journey is stimulating, challenging and ongiong, for him and other researchers and practitioners.' - Diana Cohen, University of Nottingham
' I welcome this book written for anybody interested in adults' relationship to mathematics ... valuable reflections for changing practice including making contexts for learning more student friendly, and extending the scope of numeracy to be empowering in learners' lives ... With his interdisciplinary study, Jeff Evans has given us multiple perspectives on the very complex issue concerning mathematics thinking and emotions.' - Tine Wedege, ALM Newsletter May 2001
'I felt as if I was visting old friends as the contributions of various significant mathematics educators to the field were respectfully considered and incorporated into the work ... Jeff Evans provides a tour of the literature pertaining to mathematics acquistion and transfer over the last 20 years ... I should think that teachers of mathematics to adults will welcome the section in the concluding chapter, "Adult-friendly contexts for learning", in which suggestions for effective learning are made. Those concerned to underpin experience with some theory before embarking on their own research will find it a publication which marks out the territory admirably.' - Pat Drake, British Educational Research Journal
'This book can be recommended for a range of audiences beyond those in adult mathematics education. It displays a throroughness of approach in the detailed, justified use and interplay of both quantitative and qualitative research tools and methodologies. This makes it a valuable addition to the libraries of research students and their lecturers/supervisors ... This careful study of adults' numerate practices, building on and extending research from respected authors, highlights as never before the integral role played by the emotions in the mathematical thinking of people of all ages. It provides a salient reminder of the importance of our interactions as mathematics educators for all with whom we come into contact, formally or otherwise.' - Gail E. FitzSimons, Mathematics Education Research Journal
ISBN: 9780750709132
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 589g
320 pages