Developing Mathematical Thinking: A Guide to Rethinking the Mathematics Classroom

by Jonathan Katz

In this country we have done a poor job of helping students come to see the wonder, beauty and power of mathematics. Standards can be brought into the picture, but unless we think about what it means to truly engage students in mathematics we will continue to be unsuccessful. The goal of this book is to begin to change the way students experience mathematics in the middle and high school classrooms. In this book you will find a theoretical basis for this approach to teaching mathematics, multiple guides and questions for teachers to think about in relation to their everyday teaching, and over 30 examples of problems, lessons, tasks, and projects that been used effectively with urban students.

143 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Jonathan Katz is a professor in the Department of Computer Science of the Volgenau School of Engineering at George Mason University where he conducts research on cryptography and cybersecurity. In 2013–2019 he was director of the Maryland Cybersecurity Center at the University of Maryland.

Katz's research interests lie broadly in the areas of cryptography, computer and network security and complexity theory, with his most recent work focusing on secure multi-party computation, database privacy and the science of cybersecurity. He has co-authored the textbook Introduction to Modern Cryptography (2007), which has been used by colleges and universities throughout the world and published more than 100 scientific articles. He has also done extensive consulting work for U.S. government agencies and private corporations, mostly involving cryptographic protocols and algorithms.