Knowledge for Teachers S03E12 - Daniel Ansari on Number Sense, Fluency and Understanding Math Difficulties
Jul 12, 2025
Join Professor Daniel Ansari, a leading cognitive neuroscientist and Canada Research Chair at Western University, as he explores the intricacies of children's number sense development. He discusses the significance of symbolic understanding and shares strategies to cultivate arithmetic fluency without causing anxiety. Daniel also dives into concepts like dyscalculia, spatial reasoning's influence on math success, and the connections between dyslexia and dyscalculia. This conversation is packed with practical insights for educators working with young learners.
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Ansari's Journey to Numeracy
- Daniel Ansari did not start with a strong interest in math but developed a passion through psychological and neuroscientific perspectives.
- His path included developmental psychology and neuroscience, focusing on numerical cognition from genetic disorder studies to education.
Deep Meaning of Number Sense
- Number sense includes innate quantity discrimination and mapping quantities to symbols like number words and digits.
- Educational contexts often expand number sense to include operations and decompositions, blending biology with cultural learning.
Counting vs Understanding Quantity
- Counting verbally doesn't imply conceptual understanding; children may recite numbers without knowing what they represent.
- Conceptual counting means counting enumerates sets, a critical early step in grasping numeric concepts.