Balancing Conceptual Understanding and Procedural Fluency

Room to Grow - a Math Podcast

In this episode, Joanie and Curtis consider the balance between conceptual understanding and procedural fluency in mathematics teaching and learning. Acknowledging that this idea is like a pendulum that has swung back and forth over several decades, they unpack the meanings of these terms and discuss the impact and implications on student learning.

They use the 2001 publication Adding It Up to describe how conceptual understanding and procedural fluency come together with three other ideas to form an understanding of mathematics proficiency, and share examples of what happens when students have one type of learning without the other.

You’ll hear our hosts wrestling with differing perspectives to better understand how educators can support students’ conceptual understanding and their procedural fluency together in ways that support deep learning and readiness for future math experiences.

Listeners are encouraged to consider these additional resources mentioned in the episode:

• The book Adding It Up can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Adding-Up-Helping-Children-Mathematics/dp/0309069955/ref=asc_df_0309069955/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312695266310&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6263244698394065341&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9026941&hvtargid=pla-384970287053&psc=1
• A PDF overview of Adding It Up that includes the five strands of mathematics proficiency: https://www.nctm.org/Handlers/AttachmentHandler.ashx?attachmentID=GcfUPPya8lw%3D
• Grant Wiggins’ blog post on conceptual understanding: https://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2014/04/23/conceptual-understanding-in-mathematics/

Share your feedback, comments, and suggestions for future episode topics by emailing [e-mail]. Be sure to connect with your hosts on Twitter and Instagram: @JoanieFun and @cbmathguy.