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Hiebert And Leferve Essay

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Similar to Skemp’s definition of mathematical understanding, Hiebert and Leferve suggested two mathematical types of knowledge: conceptual and procedural knowledge. Hiebert and Leferve’s (1986) explanation and definitions of procedural and conceptual knowledge have been reasonably influential in providing mathematics educators and researchers with a well-defined terminology to refer to learners’ knowledge of mathematics (Star: 2005, 406). Haser and Star (2004, 147) believe that proceptual and conceptual understanding are the two main fields that analyse the “nature of mathematical knowledge” while Hiebert and Leferve (1986, 1) attain that with the compact structure and distinctly defined content, mathematics “has provided an arena for much discussion of conceptual and procedural knowledge”. Conceptual knowledge is achieved with the construction of relationships between sections of information. Hiebert and Lefevre (1986, 4) find “that the development of conceptual knowledge is achieved by the construction of relationships” either by linking two parts of information that have previously been stored in memory or …show more content…

Star (2002, 8) finds that procedures are an integral component of mathematics and Wu (2000, 5) uses cumulative and hierarchical mathematics in showing that learning one topic requires knowledge of most if not all, of the topics preceding it. Sleep and Boerst (2012, 1039) have shown that effective teaching involves engaging learners’ preconceptions and building on their existing knowledge in order to learn new processes. Long (2005, 64) believes that the distinction between procedural and conceptual knowledge executes a framework which can provide a “starting point for a careful conceptual analysis of what concepts and skills underpin important mathematical

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