The significance of mathematical creativity cannot be undervalued. Encouraging creativity in learning can increase student rigor, foster greater learning engagement, and promote a thirst for knowledge both inside and outside of school. However, researchers have identified that research on mathematical creativity has not been foregrounded.…

Creativity and collaboration are key components of a mathematician's work, and thus in the preparation of future mathematicians, undergraduate mathematics courses should aim to develop students who can effectively work collaboratively and creatively with one another. Despite this need, research on mathematical creativity has primarily investigated…

Mathematics is traditionally taught using direct instruction, which has been found to engender negative affective responses towards the subject, including anxiety and low self-efficacy (Borko et al., 1992; Mischo & Maas, 2013). Direct instruction places authority on the instructor and involves teaching students about mathematics instead of…

Most mathematicians state mathematics is a field of beauty, creativity, and innovation, yet what is echoed by students is not how mathematics allows students to explore, but rather the ways in which it constrains and does not necessitate creativity. In comparison, many students associate coding with freedom, and the ability to create and express…

This qualitative case study explored instructional decisions exemplary primary teachers (kindergarten-third grade) made in order to engage students in mathematics. The phenomenon of teachers altering, supplementing, or utilizing district-given materials to support student engagement and understanding was studied. Specifically, this involved…

Although there have been calls for secondary mathematics education in the U.S. to incorporate problem-solving and creativity, the lion's share of instruction is designed to train students to accurately use procedures or understand concepts made by mathematicians in the past (National Research Council, 1999; Watson, 2008). This disconnect…

The purpose of this non-experimental research study was three-fold: (1) to investigate the relationships among the attributes of creative problem solving ability (divergent thinking, convergent thinking, motivation, general knowledge and skills, and environment) and their relationships in the humanities (specifically those that took enrichment…

Halmos (1980) once described problems and their solutions as "the heart of mathematics". Following this line of thinking, one might naturally ask: "What, then, is the heart of problems?" In this work, I attempt to answer this question using techniques from statistics, information visualization, and machine learning. I begin the…

Creativity is important for young children learning mathematics. Comparing the investment theory of creativity and national standards and principles for early mathematics shows that doing mathematics is more than applying rules and procedures; rather, learning mathematics takes a lot of creativity. However, much literature claimed that creativity…