The basic notions of combinatorics, including systematic listing and permutations, are important topics of mathematics that are recommended to be learned eventually from elementary schools. However, there is little research in mathematics education regarding elementary students' combinatorial strategies. The purpose of this research is to…

In this paper we present a novel adaptation of a tri-phase assessment tool, originally devised to investigate students' linear equations-related strategy flexibility, to evaluate Danish grade-six students' multidigit arithmetic-related strategy adaptivity and flexibility. Participants, 731 students, median age 12 years and drawn from 20…

Problem-solving is an essential part of teaching, learning, and assessment of physics and mathematics. The continuing educational reforms have a deep impact on everyday teaching as well as working with talented students. In the Macedonian educational system, the curricula do not explicitly point out the connection between mathematics and physics,…

In this article, we present an educational proposal designed to work on spatial geometry and three-dimensional thinking with students in the last years of Primary Education. The proposal is comprised of several activities that combine the use of a classroom videogame and working with manipulative materials to create a representation of the…

Affect has been identified as one of the important inputs in illuminating the mechanism of cognitive activities in mathematical problem solving (MPS). This study aimed to assess upper primary students' MPS-related affect with a focus on its differences across gender and grade-level among upper primary students. To do so, a simple Likert type scale…

Introducing the distributivity property of multiplication over addition is a well-known challenge in mathematics education, especially in primary school. As a contribution, this paper presents the results of a cycle of design research that focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of a modelling activity in which 2nd-grade students are…

The aim of this study was to examine how fifth grade students' critical thinking and problem-solving skills can be developed using practices based on Newman and Weglage's (1993. Five standarts for authentic instruction. "Educational Leadership," 50(7), 8-12) authentic learning standards ("high-order thinking," "depth of…

This study investigates the participation and knowledge growth of children with mathematical difficulties as they work in groups with their classmates on a year-long sequence of modelling tasks. It involves observations of a class of 23 fifth graders, 9 of whom were identified as having difficulties in mathematics. All the students worked for 8…

A study conducted with 25 Year 6 primary school students investigated the potential for a short classroom intervention to begin the development of a "Modelling" conception of mathematics on the way to developing a sense of mathematics as a way of thinking about life. The study documents the developmental roots of the cognitive activity,…

Mathematical learning and teaching are increasingly seen as a multimodal experience involved in cultural and social semiotic registers and means, and as such social-cultural semiotic analysis is expected to shed light on learning and teaching processes occurring in the mathematics classroom. In this research, three social-cultural semiotic…

Studies highlight that using appropriate strategies during problem solving is important to improve problem-solving skills and draw attention to the fact that using these skills is an important part of students' self-regulated learning ability. Studies on this matter view the self-regulated learning ability as key to improving problem-solving…

In this action research, first-graders were challenged to cope with a sequence of modelling tasks involving an analysis of given situations and choices of mathematical tools. In the course of the sequence, they underwent a change in the nature of their problem-solving processes and developed modelling competencies. Moreover, during the task…

This paper explored variation of strategy use in pattern generalization across different generalization types and across grade level. A test was designed to assess students' strategy use in pattern generalization tasks. The test was given to a sample of 1232 students from grades 4 to 11 from five schools in Lebanon. The findings of this study…

Self-efficacy beliefs in mathematics, as a dimension of the affective domain, are related with students' performance on solving tasks and mainly on overcoming cognitive obstacles. The present study investigated the interrelations of cognitive performance on geometry and young students' self-efficacy beliefs about using representations for solving…