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Science and Mathematics Education Commons

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Ron Tzur

Teacher beliefs

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Full-Text Articles in Science and Mathematics Education

Characterizing A Perspective Underlying The Practice Of Mathematics Teachers In Transition, Marty Simon, Ron Tzur, Karen Heinz, Margaret Kinzel, Margaret Smith Jan 2016

Characterizing A Perspective Underlying The Practice Of Mathematics Teachers In Transition, Marty Simon, Ron Tzur, Karen Heinz, Margaret Kinzel, Margaret Smith

Ron Tzur

We postulate a construct, perception-based perspective, that we consider to be fundamental to the practices of many teachers currently participating in mathematics education reform in the United States. The postulation of the construct resulted from analyses of data from teaching experiments in teacher education classes with a combined group of prospective and practicing teachers and from case studies with individuals from that group. A perception-based perspective is grounded in a view of mathematics as a connected, logical, and universally accessible part of an ontological reality. From this perspective, learning mathematics with understanding requires learners' direct (firsthand) perception of relevant mathematical …


Moving Students Through Steps Of Mathematical Knowing: An Account Of The Practice Of An Elementary Mathematics Teacher In Transition, Karen Heinz, Margaret Kinzel, Marty Simon, Ron Tzur Jan 2016

Moving Students Through Steps Of Mathematical Knowing: An Account Of The Practice Of An Elementary Mathematics Teacher In Transition, Karen Heinz, Margaret Kinzel, Marty Simon, Ron Tzur

Ron Tzur

We present an account of a sixth-grade teacher's practice as she responds to the challenges of current reform initiatives. We analyzed classroom observations and interviews to understand how the teacher, Ivy, teaches and thinks about teaching mathematics to her students. For Ivy, mathematical meaning is available in particular experiences. She creates these experiences for her students by leading them through a predetermined sequence of steps of mathematical knowing. This account contributed to our postulation of a perspective on mathematics learning that we refer to as perceptionbased, in which the goal of instruction is to create opportunities for students to perceive, …