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Dr. Liljedahl is the author of Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, a Professor of Mathematics Education in the Faculty of Education, and an associate member in the Department of Mathematics Education at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada.

Dr. Liljedahl is the past president of both the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG) and International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (PME). He serves on the editorial boards of ESM, JMTE, MTL, FMEJ, MERJ, and CJSMTE and is a senior editor of IJSME. He has authored or co-authored 13 books, 41 book chapters, 39 journal articles, and over 50 conference papers.  Dr. Liljedahl is also a member of the executive of the British Columbia Mathematics Teachers Association (BCAMT) and former co-editor of their flagship journal, Vector. Dr. Liljedahl is the recent recipient of the Cmolik Prize for enhancement of public education in BC as well as the Margaret Sinclair memorial award for innovation and excellence in mathematics education.

Dr. Liljedahl is a former high school mathematics teacher who has kept his research interest and activities close to the classroom. His research interests are creativity, insight, and discovery in mathematics teaching and learning; the role of affective domain on the teaching and learning of mathematics; the professional growth of mathematics teachers; mathematical problem solving; numeracy, and engaging student thinking. He consults regularly with schools, school districts, and ministries of education on issues of teaching and learning, assessment, and numeracy.

Teachers often find it difficult to implement lessons that help students go beyond rote memorization and repetitive calculations. In fact, institutional norms and habits that permeate all classrooms can actually be enabling “non-thinking” student behavior. Sparked by observing teachers struggle to implement rich mathematics tasks to engage students in deep thinking, Peter Liljedahl has translated his 15 years of research into this practical guide on how to move toward a thinking classroom. Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, Grades K–12 helps teachers implement 14 optimal practices for thinking that create an ideal setting for deep mathematics learning to occur. This guide

• Provides the what, why, and how of each practice and answers teachers’ most frequently asked questions

• Includes firsthand accounts of how these practices foster thinking through teacher and student interviews and student work samples

• Offers a plethora of macro moves, micro moves, and rich tasks to get started

• Organizes the 14 practices into four toolkits that can be implemented in order and built on throughout the year

When combined, these unique research-based practices create the optimal conditions for learner-centered, student-owned deep mathematical thinking and learning, and have the power to transform mathematics classrooms like never before.