Teaching Multiplication with Lesson Study

Masami Isoda, PhD, is a professor of the School of Human Sciences at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, where he is also the director of the Center for Research on International Cooperation in Educational Development. He has been a co-project overseer (representative) of the APEC Lesson Study Project (since 2006) and has been working internationally and nationally for innovation in mathematics education. His contributions have earned him the following awards: Honorary Professor by USIL, Peru (2014); Honorary PhD by KKU, Thailand (2011); Most Beautiful Book of the Year 2009 in the Area of Natural Science by Japan Publisher Association (2010); Best Software in Education by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan (2005). His PhD thesis title is "Mathematization for Mathematics Education: an extension of the theory of Hans Freudenthal applying the representation theory of Masami Isoda with demonstration of levels of function up to calculus." He has established the theories of teaching approach such as the planning for argumentation in classroom using the theory of the conceptual and procedural knowledge in mathematics.Raimundo Olfos, PhD, is an associated professor of the Mathematics Institute of the School of Sciences at the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso, Chile, where he is a teacher of the graduate program in Mathematics Didactics. As an assessor for public policies he has contributed to the ministries of Education in Chile and Peru. As a researcher he has published more than 30 papers and authored 5 books. His main research interests are curriculum development and assessment in mathematics education, and he leads communities of Lesson Study Groups in Chile and Colombia.

“Teaching Multiplication with Lesson Study: Japanese and Ibero-American Theories for International Mathematics Education can be recommended to mathematics teachers all around the world regardless of the curriculum and textbooks used in each country. This book offers the reader the opportunity to have a wider perspective in the teaching and learning of mathematics. This book has many strengths and provides teachers with several new ideas for teaching multiplication which can assist them in designing meaningful learning and learning methods.” (Ahbi Mahdianing Rum, Ahmad Hasan Saifurrisal and Mia Roosmalisa Dewi, Educational Studies in Mathematics, Vol. 114 (3), 2023)“This book offers valuable insights about teaching multiplication and about lesson study. … I highly recommend this book as an excellent resource for those involved with teaching multiplication or teaching elementary teachers. It provides compelling justification for the importance of using proper and consistent terminology, understanding the definitions of multiplication, posing open-ended tasks, and having an insightful questioning strategy.” (Mary Beth Rollick, MAA Reviews, May 9, 2021)

• Chapter 1. Introduction: Japanese theories and overview of chapters.- Chapter 2. The Multiplication of Whole Numbers in the Curriculum: Singapore, Japan, Portugal, USA, Mexico, Brazil and Chile.- Chapter 3. Problematics for Conceptualization of Multiplication.- Chapter 4. Introduction of Multiplication and its Extension: How do Japanese Introduce and Extend?.- Chapter 5. Japanese Lesson study for Introduction of Multiplication.- Chapter 6. Teaching the Multiplication Table and Its Properties for Learning How to Learn.- Chapter 7. The Teaching of the Multi-digit Multiplication in the Japanese Approach.- Chapter 8. An Ethnomathematical Look at the Question of the Idea of Multiplying .- Chapter 9. “Necklaces”: A Didactic Sequence for Missing Value Proportionality Problems.- Chapter 10. Building opportunities for learning multiplication.- Chapter 11. Can We Explain Students’ Failure in Learning Multiplication?