„intellectual sophistication‟ and „higher order thinking skills‟ will remain elusive.” He offered
some suggestions for helping students cultivate desirable habits of mind: (a) working on
problems with students, (b) being explicit about one‟s own thinking, and (c) making thought
experiments an integral part of the learning experience. Rasmussen (2009, January) emphasized
the need for teachers to be deliberate about initiating and sustaining particular classroom norms
so as to promote certain desirable habits of mind and effect students‟ beliefs and values.
The RAND Mathematics Study Panel (2003) referred to “mathematical know-how—what
successful mathematicians and mathematics users do” (p. 29) as mathematical practices. They
also identified mathematical practices as one of the three foci for a proposed research and
development program aimed at improving mathematical proficiency among U.S. school students.
The Panel stated