Almost twenty years ago, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) published "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" (2000), which recommended that teachers should incorporate more writing into their math lessons, claiming that writing helps students "consolidate their thinking" (p. 402) by causing them…

Metacognitive strategies are needed to solve complex problems such as mathematical modelling problems in groups in a goal-oriented and successful manner. In this paper, the results of an intervention study aiming at enhancing students metacognitive group strategies for modelling are presented. Students from 18 different classes (grade nine and…

Increasing and decreasing functions can be combined into a quadratic to explore the competing demands of number of sales, price points and profit (or loss). An interesting application of taxation rates is also explored.

This paper describes a project that sought to simultaneously facilitate the mathematical learning of both preservice teachers (PSTs) and schoolchildren. The project involved the organization of community Math Stations related to research-based number sense activities and was integrated within two university-level courses. This article describes…

As algebra teachers, the authors explore the following question in this article: "How can algebra 1, algebra 2, and precalculus teachers support students to develop algebraic reasoning and understanding of structure that can serve them in day-to-day algebraic computation?" The article shows how the algebraic identity "(a +…

This article details a high school classroom activity in which algebra tiles are used to help students gain a conceptual understanding of completing the square. The activity utilises the eight elements of effective mathematics education suggested in the National Council of Teacher of Mathematics' (NCTM's) "Principles to action: Ensuring…

In order to interpret students' attitudes about mathematics, Vesife Hatisaru asks: What do students find necessary or useful in learning mathematics? And what are the connections between their perceived needs for mathematics and their attitudes, views and feelings about mathematics? In this article, she provides evidence on these critical issues…

Current international curriculum frameworks and research advocate for K-12 mathematics to emphasize proof and argumentation. This review synthesizes literature related to conceptions, content, and supportive actions for proof and argumentation across four grade-level bands: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Our systematic search and subsequent screening…

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…

This article focuses mainly on two key mathematical processes (representation, and reasoning and proof). Firstly, we observed how teachers learn these processes and subsequently identify what and how to assess learners on the same processes. Secondly, we reviewed one teacher's attempt to facilitate the learning of the processes in his classroom.…

One of the foundational topics in first-year algebra concerns the concept of factoring. This article discusses an alternative strategy for factoring quadratics of the form ax[superscript 2] + bx + c, known as "factoring for roots." This strategy enables students to extend the knowledge they used when the leading coefficient was 1 and…

Students learn mathematics by solving problems. Mathematics textbooks are full of problems, and mathematics teachers use these problems to test students' understanding of mathematical concepts. This paper discusses how problem-solving skills can be fostered with a geometric tiling problem.

Problem solving is the building block of mathematics. Different approaches have been exhibited throughout the history to solve the problems that are as old as the history of humanity. As a result of developments in mathematics education, the problems are divided into different types according to the solution methods. Determining the types of these…

Many research studies have sought to explain why NCTM's vision for mathematics classrooms has not had greater impact on everyday instruction, with teacher beliefs often identified as an explanatory variable. Using instructional exchanges as a theoretical construct, this study explores the influence of teachers' institutional positions on the…

Supporting students' in-the-moment perseverance is a vital objective in mathematics education because it promotes learning with understanding. Yet, little is written about if and how student perseverance can improve over time. I examine the specific ways in which secondary students improved their perseverance as they engaged with challenging…