Herbert Ginsburg

Professor
Columbia University

Herbert P. Ginsburg, PhD, is the Jacob H. Schiff Foundation Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. Ginsburg has conducted basic research on the development of mathematical thinking, with particular attention to young children, disadvantaged populations, and cultural similarities and differences. He has drawn on cognitive developmental research to develop mathematics curricula (Big Math for Little Kids) and storybooks for young children, tests of mathematical thinking, and video workshops to enhance teachers’ understanding of students’ mathematics learning. Dr. Ginsburg has created computer-based systems (MCLASS: MATH) for helping teachers to conduct basic clinical interviews to assess children’s mathematical knowledge. He has developed computer software, MathemAntics, and interactive storybooks to foster young children’s (from 3 years to grade 3) mathematics learning. Dr. Ginsburg is the author of books examining Piaget’s theory (Piaget’s theory of intellectual development, with Sylvia Opper, 1979); conceptions of “deprived” children’s intellectual development (The myth of the deprived child, 1972); the development of mathematical thinking (Children’s arithmetic, 1989), and the art and science of the clinical interview (Entering the child’s mind, 1997). He holds a BA from Harvard University and an MS and PhD from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.