Practical problem solving is not common in many mathematical classes in Malaysian upper secondary schools. Usually, students receive the mathematical concepts through abstract materials (students cannot see some of them in their daily life). Thus some students believe that 'mathematics is not necessary for human life'. In this article, the…

By using high-leverage models to connect student learning experiences to overarching concepts in mathematics, teachers can anchor learning in ways that allow students to make sense of content on the basis of their own prior experiences. A rectangular area model can be used as a tool for understanding problems that involve multiplicative reasoning.…

In this paper, we reconstruct matrices from their minors, and give explicit formulas for the reconstruction of matrices of orders 2 × 3, 2 × 4, 2 × n, 3 × 6 and m × n. We also formulate the Plücker relations, which are the conditions of the existence of a matrix related to its given minors.

In the present article, we introduce a generalization of the spherical inversion. In particular, we define an inversion with respect to an ellipsoid, and prove several properties of this new transformation. The inversion in an ellipsoid is the generalization of the elliptic inversion to the three-dimensional space. We also study the inverse images…

There are fundamental questions that teachers should ask themselves and their students as they prepare lessons on calculating area. Area measurement is commonly used in everyday life (perhaps to carpet a room or organize a space) and plays a foundational role in mathematics from multiplication all way up to calculus. Despite the usefulness of area…

"Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All" (NCTM 2014) gives teachers access to an insightful, research-informed framework that outlines ways to promote reasoning and sense making. Specifically, as students transition on their mathematical journey through middle school and beyond, their knowledge and use of…

The radius of curvature formula is usually introduced in a university calculus course. Its proof is not included in most high school calculus courses and even some first-year university calculus courses because many students find the calculus used difficult (see Larson, Hostetler and Edwards, 2007, pp. 870- 872). Fortunately, there is an easier…

The cubic polynomial with real coefficients has a rich and interesting history primarily associated with the endeavours of great mathematicians like del Ferro, Tartaglia, Cardano or Vieta who sought a solution for the roots (Katz, 1998; see Chapter 12.3: The Solution of the Cubic Equation). Suffice it to say that since the times of renaissance…

In the context of an analytical geometry, this study considers the mathematical understanding and activity of seven students analyzed simultaneously through two knowledge frameworks: (1) the Van Hiele levels (Van Hiele, 1986, 1999) and register and domain knowledge (Hibert, 1988); and (2) three action frameworks: the SOLO taxonomy (Biggs, 1999;…

This article explores the process of finding the Fermat point for a triangle ABC in three dimensions. Three examples are presented in detail using geometrical methods. A delightfully simple general method is then presented that requires only the comparison of coordinates of the vertices A, B and C.

We study here an aspect of an infinite set "P" of multivariate polynomials, the elements of which are associated with the arithmetic-geometric-mean inequality. In particular, we show in this article that there exist infinite subsets of probability "P" for which every element may be expressed as a finite sum of squares of real…

We use the hyperbolic cotangent function to deduce another proof of Euler's formula for ?(2n).

Surface area and volume computations are the most common applications of integration in calculus books. When computing the surface area of a solid of revolution, students are usually told to use the frustum method instead of the disc method; however, a rigorous explanation is rarely provided. In this note, we provide one by using geometric…

This paper reports the results of a research exploring the mathematical connections of pre-university students while they solving tasks which involving rates of change. We assume mathematical connections as a cognitive process through which a person finds real relationships between two or more ideas, concepts, definitions, theorems, procedures,…

We explore the mathematics engagement of a group of mathematics coaches, working in k-12 mathematics education. The incenter of a triangle is used to derive an alternative formula for the area of a triangle inspired by Usiskin, Peressini, Marhisotto, and Stanley (2002).