Unlatching the Gate – Helping Adult Students Learn Mathematics by Katherine Safford-Ramus, (2008)

Katherine Safford-Ramus is an associate professor of mathematics at Saint Peter’s College, a Jesuit College in New Jersey, USA. She has been teaching introductory mathematics courses at the tertiary level for 24 years at a community college. This book is based on her doctoral thesis. In Chapter 1, Unlatching the Gate deliberates a rich specra of conditions for, and peculiarities of, mathematics learning by adults in a formal environment. Influential theories and empirical findings in the fields of educational psychology, adult education and mathematics education are surveyed with a focus on adult learners and – of course –teachers and institutions. The text does not discuss empirical research undertaken by the author; it examines her broad personal teaching experience in the light of the above-mentioned body of knowledge and proposes directions for the development of adult mathematics education. In this sense, Unlatching the Gate is a theoretical book reflecting on practical issues. The target audience would be adult educators and students of post secondary mathematics education.