Conceptual vs Procedural Math: What Effective Math Instruction Looks Like When You Stop Picking Sides

About this episode

The episode discusses the balance between conceptual understanding and procedural fluency in math education.

In this episode, hosts Jon Orr and Yvette Lehman unpack a tension that’s been debated in math education for decades: conceptual understanding vs. procedural fluency. Yvette shares a powerful realization from her math classroom experience: in striving to teach conceptually, she may have unintentionally neglected opportunities for students to build automaticity and recall. Meanwhile, Jon highlights the importance of helping students move fluidly between visual models, strategies, and algorithms...

People in this episode

Host: Jon Orr

Guest: Yvette Lehman

Topics covered

• conceptual understanding
• procedural fluency
• math education
• effective instruction
• student learning

Keywords

• math instruction
• conceptual vs procedural
• automaticity
• visual models
• strategies
• algorithms

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