This study explored how students develop meaning of functions by building on their understanding of expressions and equations. A teaching experiment using design research was conducted in a sixth-grade classroom. The data was analyzed using a grounded theory approach to provide explanations about why events occurred within this teaching episode…

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.

This paper discusses a proposal for exploration and verification of numerical and algebraic behavior correspondingly to Generalized Fibonacci model. Thus, it develops a special attention to the class of Fibonacci quaternions and Fibonacci octonions and with this assumption, the work indicates an investigative and epistemological route, with…

Research identifies two domains by which mathematics allows learning physics concepts: a technical domain that includes algorithmic operations that lead to solving formulas for an unknown quantity and a structural domain that allows for applying mathematical knowledge for structuring physical phenomena. While the technical domain requires…

The current research around the Fibonacci's and Lucas' sequence evidences the scientific vigor of both mathematical models that continue to inspire and provide numerous specializations and generalizations, especially from the sixties. One of the current of research and investigations around the Generalized Sequence of Lucas, involves it's…

In this article, the authors describe how a theoretical framework--the modeling cycle of Bliss, Fowler, and Galluzzo (2014)--came to life in their classroom as students struggled with an open-ended modeling task. The authors share their high school students' work--warts and all. They explain how they used their students' ideas and errors to help…

The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) states that high school students should be able to recognize patterns of growth in linear, quadratic, and exponential functions and construct such functions from tables of data (CCSSI 2010). In their work with practicing secondary teachers, the authors found that teachers may make some tacit…

This article takes a closer look at the problem of approximating the exponential and logarithmic functions using polynomials. Either as an alternative to or a precursor to Taylor polynomial approximations at the precalculus level, interpolating polynomials are considered. A measure of error is given and the behaviour of the error function is…

Quantifier Elimination is a procedure that allows simplification of logical formulas that contain quantifiers. Many mathematical concepts are defined in terms of quantifiers and especially in calculus their use has been identified as an obstacle in the learning process. The automatic deduction provided by quantifier elimination thus allows…

The residuals obtained from fitting a structural equation model are crucial ingredients in obtaining chi-square goodness-of-fit statistics for the model. The authors present a didactic discussion of the residuals, obtaining a geometrical interpretation by recognizing the residuals as the result of oblique projections. This sheds light on the…

In a recent paper by Wilamowsky et al. [6], an intuitive proof of the area of the circle dating back to the twelfth century was presented. They discuss challenges made to this proof and offer simple rebuttals to these challenges. The alternative solution presented by them is simple and elegant and can be explained rather easily to non-mathematics…

This article presents the authors' response to Asha K. Jitendra's Response to Xin and Zhang ("The Journal of Educational Research," 2009, Vol. 102, No. 6). The claim of "factual errors, including inappropriate quotes, misrepresentation of information, and inadequate scholarship in Xin and Zhang's text" are not justified. In this rejoinder, the…

Nonroutine function tasks are more challenging than most typical high school mathematics tasks. Nonroutine tasks encourage students to expand their thinking about functions and their approaches to problem solving. As a result, they gain greater appreciation for the power of multiple representations and a richer understanding of functions. This…

This article introduces a trigonometric field (TF) that extends the field of real numbers by adding two new elements: sin and cos--satisfying an axiom sin[superscript 2] + cos[superscript 2] = 1. It is shown that by assigning meaningful names to particular elements of the field, all known trigonometric identities may be introduced and proved. Two…

Exploring and deriving proofs of closed-form expressions for series can be fun for students. However, for some students, a physical representation of such problems is more meaningful. Various approaches have been designed to help students visualize squares of sums and sums of squares; these approaches may be arithmetic-algebraic or combinatorial…