EDEL 403
ARITHMETIC IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

INTRODUCTION

The basic purpose of Elementary Education 403, Arithmetic in the Elementary School, is to acquaint you, the student, with the content of mathematics for elementary school students and appropriate methods for teaching it. In this course you will study how to teach topics suitable for kindergarten children as well as advanced subject matter through pre-algebra, suitable for older students. Since it is impossible to separate content from methods, you will probably increase your own understandings and insights about mathematics as you work through the course.

Probably when you think of mathematics for elementary school, you picture computation: adding and subtracting, multiplying, and dividing, and working with fractions. Mathematics is more than computation; in the course you will also deal with many topics that are somewhat new to the elementary and middle school math curriculum: estimating, problem solving, geometry, measurement, patterns and classification, decimals, informal algebra, and probability and statistics. You will explore these areas and methods for making them meaningful to children. You will also study brief sections on current practices in schools; teaching media such as math manipulatives and other visual aids, calculators, and computers; development of positive student attitudes; and diagnosis and evaluation of student performance in mathematics.

Your assignments for the course range from writing answers based on reading the text to working with children to reviewing children's textbooks to working with problems and diagrams to collecting ideas and problems for use in the classroom. All of these assignments will encourage you to explore different aspects of the important and useful subject of mathematics.

This course offers three (3) hours of academic credit.

MID-COURSE TEST AND FINAL EXAMINATION

The student will take a Mid-Course Test and Final Examination at a physical location in a college or university setting. Detailed instructions and Mid-Course Test and Final Examination applications are included in the online syllabus. Information regarding tests and procedures can be found in General Information.

INSTRUCTOR

Angela Barlow

TEXTBOOKS

The Ole Miss Bookstore currently stocks the textbooks needed for Independent Study courses. Click here to order textbooks online. Select the term, department, and course number. Select “I Study” for the section number. To order by phone, call 662-915-7137 and be sure to indicate that you are ordering textbooks for an Independent Study course.

To apply for the course, go here.

If you need assistance or have additional questions please email us at indstudy@olemiss.edu.