We use Action-Process-Object-Schema (APOS) theory to study students' geometric understanding of partial derivatives of functions of two variables. This study contributes to research on the teaching and learning of differential multivariable calculus and its didactics. This is an important area due to its multiple applications in science,…

Programming is an interdisciplinary practice with applications in both mathematics and computer science. Mathematics concerns rigor, abstraction, and generalization. Computer science predominantly concerns efficiency, concreteness, and physicality. This makes programming a medium for problem solving that mediates between mathematics and computer…

This research is a quasi-experimental study with the following objectives: 1) To examine the effectiveness of cooperative learning activities using the TAI technique combined with activity-based learning on the topic of congruence for students at Roi Et Rajabhat University, aiming to achieve the 75/75 efficiency criterion. 2) To compare…

We characterize the thematic trends of the "Geometry and its Applications Meeting." This meeting is held periodically in Colombia, country in which our study was carried out. We used a taxonomy of key terms specific to mathematics education to code the proceedings of this meeting. The study variables are purpose, educational level,…

This study examined problem posing situations of pre-service elementary mathematics teachers in dynamic geometry environment by using problem posing strategies. The qualitative method of multiple case study was applied and geometric concepts that participants used for each type of problem posing are examined. Eight participants from 3rd grade…

The use of dynamic geometry software (DGS) is becoming increasingly familiar among teachers, but letting students conduct inquiries using computers is still not a welcome idea. In addition to logistics and discipline concerns, many teachers believe that mathematics at the lower secondary level can be learned efficiently through practice alone.…

This article documents the classroom mathematical practices observed in a collegiate level teacher education course related to the circle topic. The course, which was prepared as design research, utilized a dynamic geometry environment which influenced the type and nature of the evolved mathematical practices. The study uses emergent perspective…

The paper investigates geometric errors students made as they tried to use their basic geometric knowledge in the solution of the Applied Calculus Optimization Problem (ACOP). Inaccuracies related to the drawing of geometric diagrams (visualization skills) and those associated with the application of basic differentiation concepts into ACOP…

Two philosophical ideas motivate this paper. The first is an answer to the question of what is an appropriate activity for a physicist. My answer is that an appropriate activity is anything where the tools of a physicist enable him or her to make a contribution to the solution of a significant problem. This may be obvious in areas that overlap…

An experiment is reported comparing human performance on two kinds of visually presented traveling salesperson problems (TSPs), those reliant on Euclidean geometry and those reliant on city block geometry. Across multiple array sizes, human performance was near-optimal in both geometries, but was slightly better in the Euclidean format. Even so,…

Recognizing and responding to students' thinking is essential in teaching mathematics, especially when students provide incorrect solutions. This study examined, through a teaching scenario task, elementary preservice teachers' interpretations of and responses to a student's work on a task involving reflective symmetry. Findings revealed that a…

The majority of research on mathematics practice in everyday situations within cultures has investigated the use of arithmetic and geometry concepts and processes. To extend this research to a situation using measurement ideas, this paper investigates the mathematics practice of a group of carpet layers in an effort to detail how ordinary people…

A resource applications geometry module was developed and tested. Attitude data were collected. (MK)

This paper reports the results of student use of a TI-92 graphing calculator to solve algebra and analytic geometry problems in 9th grade Austrian classes. Students who had been trained in using the TI-92 were asked to compute x, given that a right-angled triangle had sides x, x+3, and x+6 in at least three ways, and to document their solution…

Documents, compares, and analyzes the nature of spatial reasoning by practitioners (plumbers) in the workplace and students in the school setting while constructing solids, with given specifications, from plane surfaces. Results confirm the power of activity theory and its methodology in explaining and identifying the structural differences…