SUPPORTING TEACHERS’ UNDERSTANDING AND USE OF ALGEBRA TILES

One of the most formidable challenges in school mathematics is helping students learn algebra. The construction of algebraic habits of mind is an important milestone in students’ mathematical development (Driscoll, 1999). To reach this milestone, students must learn algebra with understanding rather than simply learning by rote (Kieran, 2007). Although conceptually oriented teaching approaches show promise for building student understanding (Senk & Thompson, 2003), making the shift to a reform-oriented curriculum is a non-trivial matter. Teachers often must re-examine their personal paradigms of athematics instruction while also learning about new content and instructional materials. Mathematics education leaders need to be cognizant of teachers’ specific professional development needs with regard to algebra teaching and learning and determine how to address them.