This paper describes a process of developing dance performance based and inspired by mathematical concepts and development of mathematics through history. The performance was included in the manifestation of the May month of mathematics in Serbia and prepared in collaboration with mathematicians, choreographers, dancers, science communicators and…

The papers in this issue describe recent collaborative research into the role of inhibition of intuitive thinking in mathematics education. This commentary reflects on this research from a mathematics education perspective and draws attention to some of the challenges that arise in collaboration between research fields with different cultures,…

The topic of inhibition in mathematics education is both well timed and important. In this commentary, we reflect on the role of inhibition in mathematics learning through four themes that relate to how inhibition is defined, measured, developed, and applied. First, we consider different characterizations of inhibition and how they may shape the…

Guessing, for Pólya, is an important way of getting an initial handle on a mathematical problem. An argument can be made to place guessing in any one of the first three steps of the four-step approach to problem solving as described in "How to Solve It" (Pólya 1945). It could be a part of understanding the problem, devising a plan, or…

This article describes an assessment activity that can show students how much they intuitively understand about statistics, but also alert them to common misunderstandings. How the activity can be used formatively to help improve students' conceptual understanding of analysis of variance is discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

The fortunes of chance and data have fluctuated in the mathematics curriculum in Australia since their emergence in the National Statement in the early 1990s. Their appearance in Australia followed closely on similar moves in the United States. In both countries the topics, taken together, were given a section status equal to other areas of the…

The relationship between quantitative problem solving and commonsense has provided the basis for an expanding exploration for Colleran and O'Donoghue. For example the authors (Colleran et al., 2002, 2001) discovered the pivotal role commonsense plays in adult quantitative problem solving and suggest commonsense is an important "resource? in…

Jean Louis Nicolet is a Swiss teacher of mathematics who found his subject so fascinating that he was puzzled as to why so many pupils could not share this enjoyment in their studies. He came to a conclusion which is now supported by the results of psychological research into the learning process: he suggested that the mind does not spontaneously…

This paper addresses the accumulating knowledge of prospective teachers of secondary school mathematics and their acquired proficiency during the course "Psychological aspects of mathematics education," in which we discussed theoretical models including the intuitive rules theory. Participants' performances are examined by means of an extensive…

The learning difficulties that students experience with fractions begin immediately when they are shown fraction symbols with one numeral written above the other and told that the "top number" is called the numerator and the "bottom number" is called the denominator. This introduction to fractions will usually include a few visual diagrams to help…

With respect to the innovative roles of technology within the educational realm, an important task of educational research is the investigation of how school children accommodate themselves to innovative computer-based learning environments. This paper describes the strategies and techniques employed and extended by above-average second- through…