Words and worlds : : modelling verbal descriptions of situations / / Lieven Verschaffel [and three others].

• Superior document: New Directions in Mathematics and Science Education ; Volume 16
• VerfasserIn: Verschaffel, Lieven, 1957-
• Place / Publishing House: Rotterdam ;, Boston ;, Taipei : : Sense Publishers,, [2009]; ©2009
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Language: English
• Series: New directions in mathematics and science education ; Volume 16.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

In this book, the reader is invited to enter a strange world in which you can tell the age of the captain by counting the animals on his ship, where runners do not get tired, and where water gets hotter when you add it to other water. It is the world of a curious genre, known as "word problems" or "story problems". It originated in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, China, and India, and is the subject of daily rituals among students and teachers in mathematics classrooms all around the world. An international group of scholars with a shared interest in this phenomenon explore multiple aspects of this world from multiple perspectives. These discussions take us deep into philosophical issues of the relationships between words, mathematical systems, and the physical and social worlds we all inhabit. Empirical investigations are reported that throw light on how students and their teachers experience and interpret this activity, raising profound questions about the nature and purposes of mathematics teaching/learning in general and how it could be improved.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material / Lieven Verschaffel , Brian Greer , Wim Van Dooren and Swapna Mukhopadhyay -- Theory of Authentic Task Situations / Torulf Palm -- Genre, Simulacra, Impossible Exchange, and The Real / Susan Gerofsky -- “I am not talking about reality” / Uwe Gellert and Eva Jablonka -- On the Problematic of Word Problems − Language and the World we Inhabit / Wolff-Michael Roth -- Word Problems: Footprints from the History of Mathematics / Frank J. Swetz -- Realistic Contexts, Mathematics Assessment, and Social Class / Barry Cooper and Tony Harries -- Developing a Criticalmathematical Numeracy through Real Real-life Word Problems / Marilyn Frankenstein -- Can Mathematics Problems Help with the Inequities in the World? / Jo Boaler -- The Relationship Between Posing and Solving Division-with-remainder Problems among Flemish Upper Elementary School Children / Lieven Verschaffel , Wim Van Dooren , Limin Chen and Katrien Stessens -- Realistic Problem Solving in China / Ziqiang Xin -- Learning to Model: Coordinating Natural Language and Mathematical Operations when Solving Word Problems / Roger Säljö , Eva Riesbeck and Jan Wyndhamn -- The Issue of Reality in Word Problem Solving / Noriyuki Inoue -- Research Efforts On Probing Students’ Conceptions in Mathematics and in Reality: Structuring Problems, Solving Problems, and Justifying Solutions / Shuk-Kwan S. Leung -- Teachers’ Conceptions and Use of Mathematical Contextual Problems in Canada / Olive Chapman -- Analysis of the Realistic Nature of Word Problems in Upper Elementary Mathematics Education in Flanders / Fien Depaepe , Erik De Corte and Lieven Verschaffel -- How and Why Secondary Mathematics Teachers Make (or Don’t Make) Real-world Connections in Teaching / Julie Gainsburg -- Teachers’ Knowledge and Practices Regarding Contextual Problems and Real World Connections / João Pedro da Ponte -- Working Towards Teaching Realistic Mathematical Modelling and Problem Posing in Italian Classrooms / Cinzia Bonotto -- Stimulating Reflection on Word Problems by Means of Students’ Own Productions / Christoph Selter -- Differing Conceptions of Problem Solving in Mathematics Education, Science Education, and Professional Schools / Richard Lesh and Elizabeth Caylor -- The Changing Realities of Classroom Mathematical Problem Solving / Lyn D. English.