It is important to define what an error in a question paper is so that there is a common understanding and to avoid people's own conceptions impacting upon the way in which they write or check question papers. We carried out an interview study to investigate our colleagues' definitions of error. We found that there is no single accepted definition…

Metaphor is a tool that helps us perceive the world by expressing more than word art. Metaphors are used in certain areas of education. It appears in different ways in the fields of literature, philosophy, sociology, educational sciences, social studies. Teachers also tell concrete and abstract data through metaphors to make it easier to keep in…

The present study compared Turkish and Singaporean textbooks with respect to their instructional contents on a difficult topic for most students: the concept of angle. The study used the 3rd and 4th grade mathematics textbooks taught in Turkish and Singaporean schools. The analysis showed that Turkish textbooks defined the angle as a static…

This paper shows the results of the epistemological and didactical analysis of the sense of variation of functions. Specifically, on the conceptions of growth and decay in a function that underlie the demonstrations of the theorem that links the sign of "f" with the sense of variation of "f". The epistemological approach…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the understanding of prospective elementary mathematics teachers of the formal definition of the limit of a sequence. The participants were 32 prospective mathematics teachers (8 male and 24 female) who were in their third year of study in a four-year mathematics teacher preparation programme Istanbul…

This research aimed to develop a definition maps-based plane geometry module to improve the student teachers' mathematical reasoning skills based on the level of Van Hiele. This development research was to produce a product in the form of a module at the college level. This research referred to the ADDIE model involving five stages, i.e. analyze,…

This study aimed to describe seven indicators of students' verbal linguistic intelligence in reading subject. It used a qualitative research method. The subjects of this study were 30 students consisted of 9 male and 21 female students. They took the reading subject in the second semester of the first year. They were given a test of…

In this paper we explore first-year students' difficulties with the use and interpretation of definitions of mathematical objects as they attempt proof construction exercises in the area of elementary set theory. The participants are students at a historically disadvantaged university in South Africa. In this study the activities and utterances of…

This paper presents an educational, experimental research design, aiming at examining the effect of "PAD + microlectures" EAP teaching model on Chinese undergraduates' critical thinking development. It mainly analyzes this experiment from four aspects: research question and hypotheses, difficulties in key term definitions and selection…

Are South Africans financially literate, and how can this be measured? Until 2009 there was no South African financial literacy measure and, therefore, the aim was to develop a South African measurement instrument that is scientific, socially acceptable, valid and reliable. To achieve this aim a contextual and conceptual analysis of financial…

Changes in the demands posed by increasingly complex workplaces in the 21st century have raised the importance of nonroutine skills such as complex problem solving (CPS). However, little is known about the antecedents and outcomes of CPS, especially with regard to malleable external factors such as classroom climate. To investigate the relations…

This study is based on our belief that mathematics should be challenging in any classroom and that mathematical challenge is among the central factors that determine the quality of mathematics lessons. Choosing challenging mathematical problem for the students is central in teachers' work while their conception of mathematical challenge can…

This article compares the definition of "box plot" as used in the "Australian Curriculum: Mathematics" with other definitions used in the education community; describes the difficulties students experience when dealing with box plots; and discusses the elaboration that is necessary to enable teachers to develop the knowledge…

The comparison of adult literacy in the United States and in other countries is based on data gathered in interviews with a sample of individuals representative of the population aged 16-65 in twelve countries: Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Switzerland,…