The traditional method of teaching math--showing students how to do a procedure, then assigning problems that require them to use that exact procedure--leads to adults who don't know how to approach problems that don't look like those in their math book. Seeley describes an alternative teaching method (upside-down teaching) in which teachers give students a problem they may not know how to solve and have them work and discuss together to come up with a problem-solving approach and solution. Thus, students improve their problem-solving skills as they learn key math content.