In this pedagogical action research study, we, as post-secondary mathematics teacher educators, built on an existing effort to improve pre-service teachers' mathematical vocabulary understandings by intentionally addressing their struggles related to polygonal area formulas. Utilizing cognitive load theory and Bruner's levels of developmental…

This study aims to establish a knowledge base on how to support students in learning. We develop an initial hypothetical learning trajectory by formulating learning activities and predicting the development of students' thinking and understanding. The methodological framework employed in this study is design research, which seeks to generate…

The purpose of this article is to present and discuss two recommended sequences of learning the areas of polygons, starting from the area of a rectangle. Exploring the algebraic derivations of the two sequences reveals that both are valid teaching progressions for introducing the area formula for various polygons. Further, it is suggested that…

A key topic throughout school geometry is measurement--namely, distance, area, and volume. This article focuses on one key idea for finding and justifying the area of two-dimensional (2D) shapes: area-preserving transformations. Although especially pertinent to geometry teachers, this article highlights a vertical connection of ideas progressing…

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…

The "domain-coloring algorithm" allows us to visualize complex-valued functions on the plane in a single image--an alternative to before-and-after mapping diagrams. It helps us see when a function is analytic and aids in understanding contour integrals. The culmination of this article is a visual discovery and subsequent proof of the…

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 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,…

In this paper, we use geometric transformations to find some interesting properties related with geometric loci. In particular, given a triangle or a cyclic quadrilateral, the locus generated by the centroid or by the orthocentre (for triangles) or by the anticentre (for cyclic quadrilaterals) when one vertex moves on the circumcircle of the…

Educational modules can play an important part in revitalizing the teaching and learning of complex analysis. At the Westmont College workshop on the subject in June 2014, time was spent generating ideas and creating structures for module proposals. Sharing some of those ideas and giving a few example modules is the main purpose of this paper. The…

One goal of a mathematics education is that students make significant connections among different branches of mathematics. Connections--such as those between arithmetic and algebra, between two-dimensional and three-dimensional geometry, between compass-and-straight-edge constructions and transformations, and between calculus and analytic…

We present a geometrical investigation of the process of creating an infinite sequence of triangles inscribed in a circle, whose areas, perimeters and lengths of radii of the inscribed circles tend to a limit in a monotonous manner. First, using geometrical software, we investigate four theorems that represent interesting geometrical properties,…

Admittedly, the study of Complex Analysis (CA) requires of the student considerable mental effort characterized by the mobilization of a related thought to the complex mathematical concepts. Thus, with the aid of the dynamic system Geogebra, we discuss in this paper a particular concept in CA. In fact, the notion of winding number v[f(gamma),P] =…

Equality is such an important concept for children to develop. In this article it is argued that a precise definition is needed to ensure that students are provided with a consistent "picture" of what it is that equality really means.

An algorithm is presented for factorising a quadratic expression to facilitate instruction and learning. It appeals to elementary geometry which may provide better insights to some students or teachers. There have been many methods for factorising a quadratic expression described in school text books. However, students often seem to struggle with…