Background: Problem-solving as a vehicle to develop independent thinking skills is mostly underestimated and is often either overlooked or not given adequate attention within the existing South African mathematics curriculum. Consequently, numerous learners often display limited skills or lack skills to adequately crack Mathematics problems by…

Students often instrumentally use variables and unknowns without considering the variational thinking behind them. Using parameters to modify the coefficients or unknowns in equations or systems of linear equations (without altering their structure) involves consciously incorporating variational thinking into problem-solving. We will test the…

The identification in this study with the aim is to describe how difficult it is for students to think reflectively when solving math problems, especially in linear programming material. Based on the purpose of this study, the type of research is qualitative with a descriptive exploratory approach. Data collection techniques used are: (1) test…

Many universities throughout the world apply student-centered approaches. Common to these is that projects, problems, challenges etc. stem from "real life". Mathematics is an effective tool to solve problems, but in this paper, we discuss how we reconcile the fact that mathematics is both a pure and an applied discipline with…

The authors present mathematics problems related to the packaging of sporting goods which they used to motivate and engage their students in the USA. This article reports on a series of questions/problems that were explored in groups by the students in a college class designed for sophomores, as part of a program to prepare them to be teachers at…

Simulation studies are the basic tools of quantitative methodologists used to obtain empirical solutions to statistical problems that may be impossible to derive through direct mathematical computations. The successful execution of many simulation studies relies on the accurate generation of correlated multivariate data that adhere to a particular…

Experimental research on perception and cognition has shown that inherent and manipulated visual features of mathematics problems impact individuals' problem-solving behavior and performance. In a recent study, we manipulated the spacing between symbols in arithmetic expressions to examine its effect on 174 undergraduate students' arithmetic…

In application-oriented mathematics, particularly in the context of nonlinear system analysis, phase plane analysis through SageMath offers a visual display of the qualitative behaviour of solutions to differential equations without inundating students with cumbersome calculations of the plane-phase. A variety of examples is usually given to…

In this article, examples are shown to demonstrate how open-ended mathematical activities can be used in the classroom. Open-ended activities give students opportunities to apply their understanding in unfamiliar contexts without the pressure of finding one perfect solution.

This study aims to evaluate ChatGPT's capabilities in certain numerical analysis problem: solving ordinary differential equations. The methodology which is developed in order to conduct this research takes into account the following mathematical abilities (defined according to National Centre for Education Statistics): Conceptual Understanding,…

The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic is exposing more and more Australians to financial loss, hardship and poverty. Even primary-aged students may be privy to conversations about unemployment, business closures, household budgeting, and difficulties making ends meet. Mathematics is a powerful tool that can raise awareness of inequity…

The paper examined the relations among problem solving, automaticity, and working memory load (WML) by changing the difficulty level of task characteristics through two applications. In Study 1, involving 68 engineering students, a 2 (automaticity) x 2 (WML) design was utilized for arithmetic problems. In Study 2, involving 76 engineering…

This paper describes a study for teaching number system in a computer arithmetic course and addresses the existing gap in the current course by focusing on the characteristics of applications. A redundant residue number system (RRNS) is an efficient and innovative number system that inherits the interesting properties of both residue number system…

The number and variety of educational mathematics mobile applications (EMMAs) make it difficult to select mobile applications for mathematics learning and teaching. Therefore, in this study, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques, which are effectively used in a wide variety of disciplines, were applied to choose among alternative…

This study explores the integration of game play into an inclusive, hands-on computing project in Calculus class. The project is focused on designing and analyzing priority switches for applications competing for computational resources on embedded devices such as smart watches and tablets. By engaging students in real-world problem-solving…