Celebrating Mathematical Mistakes

In this practical guide, authors Wessman-Enzinger and Gerstenschlager provide a foundation for celebrating mathematical mistakes and offer several strategies and task structures that encourage creative and flexible mathematical reasoning. Part of the Growing the Mathematician in Every Student collection, this book moves beyond the correct–incorrect paradigm by acknowledging the beauty, power, and ubiquity of mistakes, supporting more meaningful student learning.

This book will help educators:

• Learn three types of mistakes and their roles in mathematical reasoning
• Understand how mathematical errors encourage creativity
• Support students’ invented notation and language as demonstrations of their learning
• Apply strategies and task structures with real-life vignettes
• Reflect on chapter content with prompts

Contents:
Introduction
Part 1: Celebrating Mathematical Mistakes
Chapter 1: Shifting Our Views of Mistakes
Chapter 2: Beautiful and Powerful Mistakes
Chapter 3: Factual, Procedural, and Conceptual Mistakes
Chapter 4: Mistakes by Mathematicians
Part 2: Mathematical Mistakes in Action
Chapter 5: Two Foundational Instructional Strategies for Examining Mistakes
Chapter 6: Changing Minds in Mathematics
Chapter 7: This or That Tasks
Chapter 8: Invented Notation and Language
Chapter 9: Mathematical Games
Chapter 10: Mistakes in Action
Epilogue
References and Resources
Index