We previously (Gantt et al., 2023; Paoletti et al., 2021) identified items from the publicly released TIMSS 2011 assessments that had potential for students to employ covariational reasoning as a solution strategy. In this report, we explore the extent to which fourth-grade students' performance on such items in mathematics differed among 26…

Mathematical problem solving typically involves manipulating visual symbols (e.g., equations), and prior research suggests that those symbols serve as diagrammatic representations (e.g., Landy & Goldstone, 2010). The present work examines the ways that instructional design of student engagement with these diagrammatic representations may…

Incorporating Vygotsky's concept formation theory and Berger's appropriation theory, an assessment which highlights authentic operations with the concept of area was designed and administered to 44 sixth grade students to determine what types of understanding they maintained. The results indicated the more novel the situation, the more diverse…

The Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) concluded that teaching is a cultural activity. But do claims about teaching based largely in comparisons of math teachers also apply to teaching in disciplines with less well-defined problems, like civics? What is gained and what is lost when the cultural aspect of teaching becomes the focus?…

In this paper we report some results of the analysis of released items of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). This analysis is part of a research project in process related to Mexican high school curricula from an international perspective and, the mathematics students' performance in this school level. The results…

Facets of problem solving instruction (PSI) were studied in German mathematics classrooms. Nine different facets of PSI were identified from the research literature, and a video rating form was developed to assess these facets and teacher effectiveness. Videotaped mathematics lessons (n=147) for German eighth graders from the sample for the Third…