Quadratics provide a foundational context for making sense of many important algebraic concepts, such as variables and parameters, nonlinear rates of change, and views of function. Yet researchers have highlighted students' difficulties in connecting such concepts. This in-depth qualitative study with two pairs of Year 10 (15 or 16-year-old)…

This study investigates the interplay between student reasoning and instructional strategies in trigonometry education. A qualitative case study was conducted to examine how Grade 10 students employ various reasoning approaches -- deductive, inductive, abductive, analogical, and algorithmic -- when solving trigonometry problems. Each approach…

The study was conducted to assess the effect of a blended learning educational model on grade ten students' mathematics conceptual understanding in Ethiopia. A non-equivalent pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design was employed. Two intact classes from different schools were randomly selected and assigned to experimental (n=38) and…

In this brief article, the author illustrates the flaws of FOIL (multiply the First, Outer, Inner, and Last terms of two binomials) and introduces the box method. Much like FOIL, the box method can become easy to use. Unlike FOIL, however, the box method is a more direct and visible link to using the distributive property to determine area, a…

This study aims to discover the effectiveness of the blended learning model in mathematics learning to improve the achievement of mathematical concepts. This study employed a quasi-experimental design with a non-equivalent control group. The experimental class was taught through blended learning, while the control class was taught through the…

Students in upper secondary education encounter difficulties in applying mathematics in physics. To improve our understanding of these difficulties, we examined symbol sense behavior of six grade 10 physics students solving algebraic physic problems. Our data confirmed that students did indeed struggle to apply algebra to physics, mainly because…

This study examined the effect of the concept attainment learning model and self-directed learning (SDL) on mathematics learning outcomes. This research is a quasi-experiment conducted in SMA Negeri 6 Kendari, Indonesia, grade 10 th. The sample in this study was grade 10th (3rd) as the experimental class and grade 10th (5rd) as the control class.…

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic supported an investigation of ongoing challenges as to whether and how to make mathematics relevant to learners' lifeworlds. Given that COVID-19 created major disruptions in all learners' lives, we developed and taught tasks that attempted to make links between their experiences of the pandemic and…

This study shares two frameworks for analyzing teacher actions that support students in generalizing and examines how those frameworks align with teacher questioning. One classroom teaching episode focused on the mathematical activity of generalizing is shared to illustrate effective generalizing promoting practices. We found several patterns of…

Since the 1950s, the understanding of how the base 10 system works has been encouraged through alternative base systems (Price 1995; Woodward 2004). If high school students are given opportunities to learn other base systems and analyze what they denote, we believe that they will better understand the structure of base 10 and its operations…

Senior secondary mathematics students who develop conceptual understanding that moves them beyond "rules without reasons" to connections between related concepts are in a strong place to tackle the more difficult mathematics application problems. Current research is examining how the use of challenging tasks at different levels of…

When teaching transformations of functions, teachers typically have students vary the coefficients of equations and examine the resulting changes in the graph. This approach, however, may lead students to memorise rules related to transformations. Students need opportunities to think deeply about transformations beyond superficial observations…

Teachers typically teach subjects separately, but integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculums that focus on real-world practices are gaining momentum (NAE and NRC 2009). Before release of the "Next Generation of Science Standards" ("NGSS") (NGSS Lead States 2013), 36 states already had a…

From the early nineties, most reformed curricula at upper secondary level choose to give functions a major position and a priority over rational expressions and equations of traditional algebra. The goal of this paper is to introduce key challenges resulting from this choice and to discuss the contribution that software environments associating…

Although the importance of mathematical problem solving is now widely recognised, relatively little attention has been given to the conceptualisation of mathematical processes such as representing, analysing, interpreting and communicating. The construct of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (Hill, Ball & Schilling, 2008) is generally…