Many students persistently misinterpret histograms. This calls for closer inspection of students' strategies when interpreting histograms and case-value plots (which look similar but are different). Using students' gaze data, we ask: "How and how well do upper secondary pre-university school students estimate and compare arithmetic means of…

In this report, we present how one prospective elementary teacher (PT) engaged in the Ant Farm Task, which we designed to investigate PTs' reasoning about coordinate systems. We highlight the cognitive resources the PT drew upon in solving the task via the establishment of a Cartesian coordination and consider educational implications. [For the…

Linear algebra students are typically introduced to the problem of how to convert from one coordinate system to another in a very abstract way. Often, two bases for a given vector space are provided, and students are taught how to determine a transition matrix to be used for changing coordinates. If students are successful in memorizing this…

Our paper focuses on the relationship between spatial and geometrical knowledge in problem solving situations at primary school. We have created tasks that involve three different spaces: physical space, graphical space and geometrical space. We aim to study the specific role of graphical space as a bridge between the other two spaces using paper…

This is a study about the didactical organization of a research based group of activities designed using APOS theory to help university students make constructions, needed to understand and graph two-variable functions, but found to be lacking in previous studies. The model of the "moments of study" of the Anthropological Theory of…

The article provides a review of recent research on human performance on the traveling salesman problem (TSP) and related combinatorial optimization problems. We discuss what combinatorial optimization problems are, why they are important, and why they may be of interest to cognitive scientists. We next describe the main characteristics of human…

This study aims to investigate about the existence of a graphical facilitation effect on probabilistic reasoning. Measures of undergraduates' performances on problems presented in both verbal-numerical and graphical-pictorial formats have been related to visuo-spatial and numerical prerequisites, to statistical anxiety, to attitudes towards…

The investigation monitored the digital game-playing behaviours of 428 primary-aged students (aged 10-12 years). Chi-square analysis revealed that boys tend to spend more time playing digital games than girls while boys and girls play quite different game genres. Subsequent analysis revealed statistically significant gender differences in terms of…

Three studies were conducted to examine the relation of spatial visualization to solving kinematics problems that involved either predicting the two-dimensional motion of an object, translating from one frame of reference to another, or interpreting kinematics graphs. In Study 1, 60 physics-naive students were administered kinematics problems and…

Twenty-eight engineering students were presented with complex spatial problems to investigate the effects of spatial aptitude and strategy selection on problem solving. Aptitude was determined by spatial aptitude test scores and strategy was determined by verbal reports and latency measures. It was found that aptitude determined the efficiency…

Presents a distance and time map exercise designed as a crime scenario. Explains that students must determine whether one individual could have committed a series of crimes in a given time period. Includes graph production that gives practice in interpreting and expressing aspects of spatial information. (DK)

Integrating mathematics with family and consumer sciences (FCS) has enabled youth to pass the Minnesota 8th Grade Math Basic Skills test. The test focuses on the eight content areas: (1) problem solving with whole numbers and fractions; (2) problem solving with percentage/ratio; (3) number sense; (4) estimation; 5) measurement; (6) tables and…

This aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) study was designed to clarify the relationship between the aptitude variable spatial visualization and two modes of presentation of linear absolute-value inequalities. The modes of presentation include computer-enhanced instruction (CEI) and traditional. (Author/KR)

This guide describes 47 number and numeration learning activities that can be used with elementary school students. These activities have been developed using the mathematics laboratory approach. This publication is designed to serve as a stimulant to encourage teachers to open their minds and employ their imagination in developing further…

This study compared the results of group tests of computational skills and tests of knowledge and skills in mathematics between three groups of first and fifth grade students from the United States, Japan, and Taiwan. The battery of tests were constructed after reviewing the mathematics textbooks used in each location and discussing the major…