Perspectives on Adults Learning Mathematics: Research and Practice

Description

At a time when the importance of lifelong education is becoming recognised around the world, this is the first book to explore an important but hitherto neglected area: adult mathematics education. This book is about adults learning mathematics wherever and in whatever circumstances they do so. It brings together researchers in the field and aims to lay the foundations for study and further research and practice in this fast-developing area. It aims to situate research and practice in adults learning mathematics within the wider field of lifelong learning and lifelong education and to be accessible both to the specialist and to the general adult reader. The book features a comprehensive review of the field which sets the scene for sections on: Perspectives on Research on Adults Learning Mathematics; Adults, Mathematics, Culture, and Society; Adults, Mathematics, and Work; and Perspectives in Teaching Adults Mathematics. Topics covered include: mathematics and common sense; statistical literacy and numeracy; new theories on learning mathematics; mathematical competences for the workplace; ethnomathematics; and the training of tutors. Introduction....Pages 1-11 Review of Research on Adults Learning Mathematics....Pages 13-45 Front Matter....Pages 47-51 Mathematics or Common Sense? Researching ‘Invisible’ Mathematics through Adults’ Mathematics Life Histories....Pages 53-66 Researching Adults’ Knowledge Through Piagetian Clinical Exploration — the case of domestic work....Pages 67-81 Understanding their Thinking: the tension between the Cognitive and the Affective....Pages 83-99 Front Matter....Pages 101-107 Mathematics: Certainty in an Uncertain World?....Pages 109-118 Ethnomathematics and Political Struggles....Pages 119-133 Statistical Literacy: Conceptual and Instructional issues....Pages 135-150 The roles of feelings and logic and their interaction in the solution of everyday problems....Pages 151-164 Front Matter....Pages 165-170 Women, Mathematics and Work....Pages 171-190 Technology, Competences and Mathematics....Pages 191-207 Mathematics and the Vocational Education and Training System....Pages 209-227 Front Matter....Pages 229-234 Algebra for Adult Students: the Student voices....Pages 235-255 Exploration and Modelling in a University Mathematics Course: Perceptions of Adult Students....Pages 257-269 Assessing Numeracy....Pages 271-287 Adult Mathematics and Everyday Life: Building Bridges and Facilitating Learning ‘Transfer’....Pages 289-305 Teaching “not less than maths, but more”: an overview of recent developments in adult numeracy teacher development in England — with a sidelong glance at Australia....Pages 307-327 Postscript: Some Thoughts on Paulo Freire’s Legacy for Adults Learning Mathematics....Pages 329-341