Natural language is known to play a crucial and specific role for children's learning in school mathematics. Not only does it carry special vocabulary, but subtle differences between natural languages may lead to surprising challenges, for instance, for learners who are not taught mathematics in their mother tongue. In this paper, the…

Rational numbers, such as fractions and decimals, are harder to understand than natural numbers. Moreover, individuals struggle with fractions more than with decimals. The present study sought to disentangle the extent to which two potential sources of difficulty affect secondary-school students' numerical magnitude understanding: number type…

Students entering sixth grade operate with three different multiplicative concepts that influence their reasoning in many domains important for middle school. For example, students who are operating with the second multiplicative concept (MC2 students) can begin to construct fractions as lengths but do not construct improper fractions as numbers.…

In this study, we present a mathematical analysis distinguishing two conceptions of equivalence: "proportional equivalence" and "unit equivalence." These two conceptions have distinct meanings in relation to equivalent fractions: one is grounded in proportionality, while the other is grounded in equal wholes. We argue that (a)…

Teachers' understanding of the concepts they teach affects the quality of instruction and students' learning. This study used a sample of 303 teachers from across the USA to examine elementary school mathematics teachers' knowledge of key concepts underlying fraction arithmetic. Teachers' explanations were coded based on the accuracy of their…

Prior work on teachers' mathematical knowledge has contributed to our understanding of the important role of teachers' knowledge in teaching and learning. However, one aspect of teachers' mathematical knowledge has received little attention: "strategic competence for word problems." Adapting from one of the most comprehensive…

This paper illuminates challenges confronting teachers and students at the literacy/numeracy interface in contexts where students have not developed sufficient English language proficiency to be learning mathematics through English but, due to socio-politically and economically driven perceptions are being taught in English. We analyse transcript…

This study offers an account of ways in which "ritual" (McCloskey, 2014) serves as a lens for identifying societal and cultural patterns related to mathematics teaching and learning in present-day US classrooms. We use data from an ethnographic study of a fifth grade mathematics classroom in which a student teacher and a mentor teacher…

A key aim of mathematics teaching is for children to develop appropriate and efficient strategies for solving tasks. The analysis presented in this paper moves beyond the exploration of changes in the strategies that children employ to solve tasks and extends to observation and exploration of changes that occur when their overall solving approach…

This study examines the collective mathematical reasoning when students and teachers in grades 3, 4, and 5 explore fractions derived from length comparisons, in a task inspired by the Elkonin and Davydov curriculum. The analysis showed that the mathematical reasoning was mainly anchored in mathematical properties related to fractional or algebraic…

Fractions are an important part of the primary school mathematics curriculum, being introduced to children in the Slovenian educational system during the second grade (at age seven). For clarification of terms it is worth mentioning that the term "fraction" is only introduced in the sixth grade. Before that, the term "equal parts of…

Self-efficacy in mathematics is related to engagement, persistence, and academic performance. Prior research focused mostly on examining changes to students' self-efficacy across large time intervals (months or years), and paid less attention to changes at the level of lesson sequences. Knowledge of how self-efficacy changes during a sequence of…

This study investigated 111 pre-service teachers' (PSTs') flexibility with referent units in solving a fraction division problem using a length model. Participants' written solutions to a measurement fraction division problem were analyzed in terms of strategies and types of errors, using an inductive content analysis approach. Findings suggest…

In this paper, we explore algebra students' mathematical realities around fractions and division, and the ways in which students reinvented mathematical productions involving fractions and division. We find that algebra students' initial realities do not include the fraction-as-quotient sub-construct. This can be problematic because in algebra,…

The part-whole multiplicative relationship, as a topic that gives rise to the concept of fraction, is fundamental in education at the primary school level, and must therefore be included in training courses for prospective primary school teachers (PSTs). In this paper, we introduce a first study of a larger project, which aims to understand the…