The Psychology Of Learning Mathematics
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
What does it truly mean to *understand* mathematics — and why do so many students fail to achieve it? Richard R. Skemp's landmark work The Psychology of Learning Mathematics tackles this fundamental question head-on, arguing that conventional mathematics education has long confused the mere memorisation of rules with genuine conceptual understanding. Drawing on cognitive psychology and his own extensive research, Skemp presents a compelling framework distinguishing between relational understanding — knowing both what to do and why — and instrumental understanding, or learning procedures without meaning, a distinction that has since become foundational in mathematics education theory. Skemp writes with the clarity and authority of a scholar who straddles both the mathematical and psychological disciplines, making rigorous ideas accessible without sacrificing intellectual depth. The Psychology of Learning Mathematics illustrates how abstract mathematical schemas are built in the mind, how they can be nurtured or undermined by teaching practice, and why so many learners develop a deep-seated anxiety around the subject. A cornerstone text that continues to challenge educators and curriculum designers alike, it leaves the reader asking a quietly radical question: if we have been teaching mathematics wrong all along, what would it look like to teach it right?
Author: Richard R. Skemp
Format: Paperback
Genre: Psychology
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image
What does it truly mean to *understand* mathematics — and why do so many students fail to achieve it? Richard R. Skemp's landmark work The Psychology of Learning Mathematics tackles this fundamental question head-on, arguing that conventional mathematics education has long confused the mere memorisation of rules with genuine conceptual understanding. Drawing on cognitive psychology and his own extensive research, Skemp presents a compelling framework distinguishing between relational understanding — knowing both what to do and why — and instrumental understanding, or learning procedures without meaning, a distinction that has since become foundational in mathematics education theory. Skemp writes with the clarity and authority of a scholar who straddles both the mathematical and psychological disciplines, making rigorous ideas accessible without sacrificing intellectual depth. The Psychology of Learning Mathematics illustrates how abstract mathematical schemas are built in the mind, how they can be nurtured or undermined by teaching practice, and why so many learners develop a deep-seated anxiety around the subject. A cornerstone text that continues to challenge educators and curriculum designers alike, it leaves the reader asking a quietly radical question: if we have been teaching mathematics wrong all along, what would it look like to teach it right?