Abstract

AbstractIn recent decades, the instructional theory of Realistic Mathematics Education has exerted a powerful influence on mathematics education around the world. The idea of progressive mathematisation has gained international acceptance. In this chapter, we will illustrate the way in which we benefited from the idea of organising the teaching and learning of mathematics in keeping with this guiding principle. After some personal memories of the first author, we start by describing what we consider to be the central elements of the principle of progressive mathematisation. This is followed by a description of two methods, the mathematics conferences and mathematics language tools, for rendering the learning and teaching concepts entailed by the principle of progressive mathematisation—especially its vertical component—even more expedient and fruitful. The contribution concludes with an explanation of how we understand the term ‘realistic’ in Realistic Mathematics Education.

Highlights

  • In recent decades, the instructional theory of Realistic Mathematics Education has exerted a powerful influence on mathematics education around the world

  • Reading Treffers’ paper was a key event for the first author because he realised that the principle of progressive schematisation—or progressive mathematisation, as it should preferably be called—is by no means only important for learning written calculation algorithms, but could be considered a comprehensive, generally applicable principle for the organisation of mathematical learning or teaching processes

  • Our chapter concludes with comments on how we understand the term ‘realistic’ in Realistic Mathematics Education (RME)

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Summary

13.1 The Santa Claus Problem

It must have been at the end of 1983 that the first author—at the time studying to become a primary school teacher—became aware of Adri Treffers’ paper “Fortschreitende Schematisierung – ein natürlicher Weg zur schriftlichen Multiplikation und Division im 3. und 4. It must have been at the end of 1983 that the first author—at the time studying to become a primary school teacher—became aware of Adri Treffers’ paper “Fortschreitende Schematisierung – ein natürlicher Weg zur schriftlichen Multiplikation und Division im 3.

Selter (B)
13.2 The Guiding Principle of Progressive Mathematisation
13.3.1 Learning to Subtract in the Number Domain up to 1000
13.3.2 Task-Related Exchange with the Help of Mathematics Conferences
13.3.3 Tools for Organising Mathematics Conferences
13.4 Learning to Describe and Explain by Using Mathematics Language Tools
13.4.2 Sums of Consecutive Natural Numbers
12. Combinations of different strategies
13.4.3 Mathematics Language Tools
13.5 Numbers Can Be Realistic Too
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