Big Ideas of Primary Mathematics: It's all about connections
Big idea thinking provides an opportunity to re-conceptualize how we view and teach primary mathematics. Contemporary curricula continue to be organized in a linear fashion with content allocated to year levels, which encourages a narrow view of what needs to be taught. Big idea thinking has the...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Book Chapter |
| Published: |
World Scientific
2019
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80838 |
| _version_ | 1848764282681950208 |
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| author | Hurst, Chris |
| author2 | Toh, TL |
| author_facet | Toh, TL Hurst, Chris |
| author_sort | Hurst, Chris |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Big idea thinking provides an opportunity to re-conceptualize how
we view and teach primary mathematics. Contemporary curricula
continue to be organized in a linear fashion with content allocated
to year levels, which encourages a narrow view of what needs to
be taught. Big idea thinking has the capacity to change that.
The real value of big ideas lies in interpreting the mathematics
within them. Big ideas are those which connect mathematical
understandings into a coherent whole, and are central to the
learning of mathematics. Big ideas comprise a network of ‘little
ideas’ or ‘micro-content’ and teachers who think in terms of them
are able to look forwards and backwards from their own year level
to identify specific content that a student may not know, and to lay
the foundations for what the student needs to know next. Big idea
teachers are not limited in their thinking by curriculum boundaries.
Most importantly, big idea thinking encourages teachers to
deconstruct and reconstruct their knowledge. Teachers can actively
engage in this by beginning with a mathematical idea such as place
value and building a concept map showing the various pieces of
‘micro-content’ that contribute to the development of the concept
and considering how the content is connected. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:16:53Z |
| format | Book Chapter |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-80838 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:16:53Z |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publisher | World Scientific |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-808382021-01-25T07:05:49Z Big Ideas of Primary Mathematics: It's all about connections Hurst, Chris Toh, TL Yeo, JBW Mathematics Big idea thinking provides an opportunity to re-conceptualize how we view and teach primary mathematics. Contemporary curricula continue to be organized in a linear fashion with content allocated to year levels, which encourages a narrow view of what needs to be taught. Big idea thinking has the capacity to change that. The real value of big ideas lies in interpreting the mathematics within them. Big ideas are those which connect mathematical understandings into a coherent whole, and are central to the learning of mathematics. Big ideas comprise a network of ‘little ideas’ or ‘micro-content’ and teachers who think in terms of them are able to look forwards and backwards from their own year level to identify specific content that a student may not know, and to lay the foundations for what the student needs to know next. Big idea teachers are not limited in their thinking by curriculum boundaries. Most importantly, big idea thinking encourages teachers to deconstruct and reconstruct their knowledge. Teachers can actively engage in this by beginning with a mathematical idea such as place value and building a concept map showing the various pieces of ‘micro-content’ that contribute to the development of the concept and considering how the content is connected. 2019 Book Chapter http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80838 10.1142/9789811205385_0005 World Scientific restricted |
| spellingShingle | Mathematics Hurst, Chris Big Ideas of Primary Mathematics: It's all about connections |
| title | Big Ideas of Primary Mathematics: It's all about connections |
| title_full | Big Ideas of Primary Mathematics: It's all about connections |
| title_fullStr | Big Ideas of Primary Mathematics: It's all about connections |
| title_full_unstemmed | Big Ideas of Primary Mathematics: It's all about connections |
| title_short | Big Ideas of Primary Mathematics: It's all about connections |
| title_sort | big ideas of primary mathematics: it's all about connections |
| topic | Mathematics |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/80838 |