This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesised evidence on teaching problem-solving skills to children in early childhood education and care settings (ECEC) in the domain of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Given the foundational nature of early cognitive development and the growing emphasis on STEM competencies, this…

Early critical thinking and sustainability awareness development is crucial for equipping future generations to handle global issues in an increasingly complicated and interconnected society. This study examined how 9-year-old primary school students applied their knowledge through a collaborative Mystery assignment, demonstrating a Thinking Skill…

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education has become a global focus to foster learners' Twenty first-century skills and achieve the sustainable development of society. Design challenges present children with a real-world design problem to solve, as design challenges inspire children to think creatively and apply…

This paper provides a longitudinal analysis of the understanding of repetition patterns by 24 Spanish children ages 3, 4 and 5, through representation and the type of justification. A mixed quantitative and qualitative study is conducted to establish bridges between algebraic thinking and computational thinking by teaching repetition patterns in…

The exploration of children's drawings as mathematical representations is a current focus in early years mathematics education research. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of 72 kindergarten to Grade 3 (5 to 8 years old) children's drawings produced during problem-solving tasks centred on multiplicative strategies. Existing frameworks for…

Mathematical problem solving remains a struggle for many students today (Celebioglu et al., 2010; Englard, 2010; Gavaz et al., 2021; N. H. Lee et al., 2014; Yeo, 2011). Though intervention studies have reported measured impact on improving students' problem-solving abilities (Gavaz et al., 2021; Gidalevich & Kramarski, 2019; N. H. Lee et al.,…

The concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) approach is an instructional framework for teaching math wherein students move from using concrete materials to solve problems to using visual representations of the materials, and finally abstract concepts. This study provides a literature synthesis and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of the CRA…

Recent studies have shown that playing with coding toys enhances children's skills in STEM-subjects, especially problem-solving abilities. However, there is limited knowledge of early childhood education and care (ECEC) teachers' roles in facilitating children's problem-solving through coding-toy play activities and the high-quality pedagogical…

This study examines the impact of constructivist methods on students' performance in mathematical problem-solving, which is a significant issue in contemporary educational research. Traditional teaching methods, which are often oriented towards rote learning and memorization, have limitations in increasing students' performance in solving…

The results of this study revealed students' solution strategies progressed from inefficient strategies e.g., counting on fingers to more efficient strategies with mathematical connections. These findings should enable educators to gain more insight to use Number Talks to help student develop computational fluency with numbers.

Instructional routines, like "Number Talks" and "Notice and Wonder," engage students in doing and then talking about their mathematical thinking. Number Talk routines are short mathematical discussions where students mentally solve and share the strategies they used to make sense of the problem. In comparison, the Notice and…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics's "Principles to Actions" (NCTM, 2014) cites posing purposeful questions and eliciting and using evidence of student thinking as effective mathematics teaching practices. Interviewing students creates opportunities for teachers to develop these practices. Through interviewing, they can try…

Mathematical reasoning, which plays a critical role in students' capacity to make sense of mathematics, is now emphasised more strongly in various curricula internationally. However, reasoning is sometimes difficult for teachers to recognise, let alone teach. This case study considers video of one teacher's implementation of a problem-solving…

Early detection of and relevant information on children's mathematical difficulties is important to initiate targeted teaching and intervention. This study investigated the extent to which strategy use in single-digit addition provides additional predictive information about 61 grade one children's (6-year-old) mathematical achievement 3 years…

This case study was undertaken to characterise the interventions made by a kindergarten teacher during a multiplicative structure problem-solving lesson. The study findings show that when she realised the children were having difficulty, she provided assistance to enable them to find the right answer. When the children gave an incorrect response,…