This study investigates the characteristics of Japanese primary school mathematics lessons that adopt a problem-solving approach. We argue that these characteristics are reflected in three key aspects: collective teaching and learning, the lesson as a "drama" (i.e., its structured flow), and the focus on mathematical knowledge. In this…

The aim of this study is to determine the number sense skills of preschool (Kindergarten) children. In the study, survey design, one of the quantitative research methods, was used. The study group consists of a total of 114 children attending all the kindergartens (5 kindergartens) in the city center of Tunceli in the 2020-2021 school year. The…

Problem-solving is a key aspect of mathematics instruction. Although it is part of several national curricula, its implementation is still being vastly explored. The present research, which is part of a larger project, aimed to investigate the effect of using problem-oriented instruction in grade 3 of primary school on students' mathematical…

Mathematics teacher candidates enter teacher education with knowledge that could support or limit their learning. It is therefore important to gain insights of this knowledge to inform teacher education. This paper offers such insights for prospective mathematics teachers' initial knowledge of problem solving (PS) for teaching at the beginning of…

Successful adoption of proven effective practice strategies such as distributed practice may contribute to much-needed improvement in mathematics performance. However, it is not yet fully understood if distributed practice is beneficial for long-term retention of complex procedural knowledge and, if so, for which initial practice performance level…

Word problems are frequently taught in shallow contexts, where students primarily use procedural knowledge to solve problems and struggle to transfer their learning to real-life situations. This study examines how extra-mathematical knowledge and motivation may enhance the learning process. The study involved 345 fifth-grade students (51.2% male)…

Place value is one of the 'big ideas' in number and plays a critical role in helping students develop their number sense, problem solving and computation skills. Yet, the elegant simplicity of our place value system belies the abstract nature of the construct. This paper presents data from 606 Year 3-6 students (ages 8-12) from two metropolitan…

The relation to operands (RO) principles describe the relation between operands and answers in arithmetic problems (e.g., the sum is always larger than its positive addends). Despite being a fundamental property of arithmetic, its empirical relation with arithmetic/algebraic problem solving has seldom been investigated. The current longitudinal…

Supporting students in becoming effective problem solvers is a critical component of K-12 mathematics instruction. Unfortunately, little is known about the factors that are related to problem solving proficiency in middle school students. We report the results of a study that employed a hierarchical linear regression analysis to examine the…

This study aimed to produce a learning path that can help students understand the concept of percent using the context of an egg rack. This study used a design research method through the Indonesian Realistic Mathematics Education approach which was carried out at Elementary School No. 2 Gumawang, Indonesia. Data were obtained through observation,…

Meaningful learning occurs when individuals connect their existing knowledge with their current understanding. Unfortunately, many teaching practices neglect the learners' subconscious knowledge, also known as their "funds of knowledge." The result is a disconnect between school and home knowledge, social injustice towards students whose…

Research on pre-service teachers' discussion practices has focused on decompositions of practice into subskills, while acknowledging the importance of the role of context, identity, and relationships between interactive moves. We focused on 66 elementary preservice teachers' (PSTs') framing-launching moves in discussions after problem-solving in a…

This study investigated the extent to which domain-general and domain-specific antecedents contributed to pre-algebra's initial level and growth rate among students who experience word-problem difficulty (WPD). We examined if such a profile differs for English-language learners (ELLs; n = 75) and non-ELLs (n = 55) with WPD. We assessed 130 U.S.…

This study was performed to determine preservice elementary mathematics teachers' solution performance of systems of linear equations using geometric representation, algebraic representation and transition from geometric representation to the algebraic representation and the predictive role of preservice elementary mathematics teachers'…

Storytelling is an important method for removing obstacles to learning mathematics and making lessons understandable. This research aims to analyze primary school teachers' stories written to teach students concepts of problem solving, fluency, reasoning, and understanding skills. The study is a qualitative case study and the participants were 25…