Scientists have always been fascinated by transient far-from-equilibrium systems. Since the (early) 1970s, there have been literature reports on the implementation of didactic experiments as a tool for attracting and stimulating students' and general public interest. In this work, a group of 12 high school students, supported by their chemistry…

This work is part of an investigation conducted in Italy, which aims to explore the effects of instruction on secondary school students' combinatorial reasoning. We gave a questionnaire adapted from Navarro-Pelayo's research to two groups of students with and without instruction on combinatorics in order to analyse the students' performances and…

In this paper, we describe an experiment in using history to work on problem-solving and the relationship between arithmetic and algebra. The students involved attended the first year of the Italian upper secondary school (grade 9). The original sources we used are problems from Italian treatises on arithmetic and algebra that appeared in the…

We present a model for roleplaying (RP) for university students that is aimed at fostering the interactions of each learner with the teacher and coursemates, self- and peer-assessment, as well as an awareness and meaningful learning of mathematics. Specific features of our model are its focus on metacognition and individualized learning, based on…

Operations Research (OR) is a branch of applied mathematics that deals with optimization problems arising from different real contexts. The solving process of its problems is based on the construction and resolution of mathematical models, showing the possible connections between mathematics and the real world. Nevertheless, OR is not typically…

In this paper the results of a questionnaire about mathematics teachers' inclusion in their teaching of mathematical modelling and problem posing are presented. To make teachers able to choose a coherent teaching method for a mathematical topic, teachers' knowledge of valuable methods for the teaching of mathematics should be fostered. In this…

Introducing the distributivity property of multiplication over addition is a well-known challenge in mathematics education, especially in primary school. As a contribution, this paper presents the results of a cycle of design research that focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of a modelling activity in which 2nd-grade students are…

In this paper we analyse the role of the teacher in a Digital interactive Storytelling in Mathematics (DiST-M) activity. involved in the story as a character (the Guru, a math expert), the teacher acts as a mediator in students' problem-solving process. We analyse how the teacher may orchestrate the mathematical discussions to allow students…

A more motivating way of introducing students to probability theory is through real-world problems. Since heuristics play an important role in our probabilistic judgement, knowing how to avoid incorrect probabilistic reasoning, which leads to several biases, could help students to develop more critical thinking skills. In this paper, we present a…

The aim of this study is to examine, in an educational context, the influence of chess training on academic performance (written text comprehension and recall and mathematical problem-solving ability) and on meta-cognitive skills (approach to studying and study strategies availability). A sample of 85 children attending primary school participated…

Interactive whiteboard offers a high-potential innovative tool in mathematical educational environments, in which teachers' modeling processes and students' exploring activities can easily be executed. Nevertheless, these affordances are not self-evident. There is a gap between the potential claims of the tool and its actual use in the classrooms.…

Robotics is a powerful tool in education and it has gained a notable impact in the field of teaching computer science, engineering, math, physics and similar. As educational robotics laboratories stimulate many different abilities in students, such as problem solving and group working, it is possible to use robotics to promote soft skills as well.…

This study investigated the roles of different executive function (EF) components (inhibition, shifting, and working memory) in 2-step arithmetic word problem solving. A sample of 139 children aged 8 years old and regularly attending the 3rd grade of primary school were tested on 6 EF tasks measuring different EF components, a reading task and a…

In two experiments, participants judged the average numerosity between two sequentially presented dot patterns to perform an approximate arithmetic task. In Experiment 1, the response was given on a 0-20 numerical scale (categorical scaling), and in Experiment 2, the response was given by the production of a dot pattern of the desired numerosity…

This paper addresses contributions that dynamic geometry systems (DGSs) may give in reasoning by contradiction in geometry. We present analyses of three excerpts of students' work and use the notion of pseudo object, elaborated from previous research, to show some specificities of DGS in constructing proof by contradiction. In particular, we…