Development of the cardinality principle, an understanding that the last number-word recited in counting a collection of items specifies the number of items in that collection, is a critical milestone in developing a concept of number. Researchers in early number development have endeavored to theorize its development. Here we critique two widely…

Multiplicative thinking underpins much of the mathematics learned beyond the middle primary years. As such, it needs to be understood conceptually to highlight the connections between its many aspects. This paper focuses on one such connection; that is how the array, place value partitioning and the distributive property of multiplication are…

Four operations algorithm is among the major topics occupying a significant position in primary school schedule. Moreover, utilizing alternative strategies during the education process and improving operation flexibility of students also considered important in teaching of mathematics. Flexibility in computing is the ability of solving any…

Efficient visualizations of computational algorithms are important tools for students, educators, and researchers. In this article, we point out an innovative visualization technique for matrix multiplication. This method differs from the standard, formal approach by using block matrices to make computations more visual. We find this method a…

This study aims to investigate the effect of history-of-mathematics activities on the development of mental computation of middle-grade students and to determine the students' views on the history of mathematics. This study was carried out as an action research project. The participants of the study consisted of 19 seventh-grade students studying…

The author presented a math task asking all his 3rd graders to find ways to count seven sets of eight donuts, arranged in grids of two-by-four. He hoped this task would lead students toward fluency in single-digit multiplication, albeit in a manner that was inherently personalized learning, with students choosing their own methods to reach an…

When two third-graders collaboratively manipulated a multi-modal, digital learning device called TouchTimes (hereafter, TT), that introduces multiplication through visual, tangible and symbolic means, their thinking about quantity shifted from being additive to being multiplicative. In this study, I examine the children's interactions around/with…

This study investigates the teaching and learning of single-digit whole number multiplication in China. Analysis of data from documents, classroom teaching, and semi-structured interviews revealed three salient characteristics of emphasizing "oral calculation," "calculation speed," and "understanding" across…

This document includes instructional tips on: (1) Building on students' informal understanding of sharing and proportionality to develop initial fraction concepts; (2) Helping students recognize that fractions are numbers that expand the number system beyond whole numbers, and using number lines to teach this and other fraction concepts; (3)…

This paper makes a proposal, from the perspective of a research mathematician interested in mathematics education, for broadening and deepening whole number arithmetic instruction, to make it more relevant for the twenty-first century, in particular, to enable students to deal with large numbers, arguably an essential skill for modern citizenship.…

The probability is exceptional in the teaching of mathematics because students often have difficulties to understand the basic terms and the problem solving strategies. Understanding lacks of the probability concept and various types of misconceptions arise from the misleading intuition and misinterpretations of experience with the stochastic…

In this paper we analyze the outcomes of a design experiment that sought to improve the multiplicative reasoning of 12-13 year-old learners across two schools in a South African context of low performance. Using a hybrid theoretical base in Realistic Mathematics Education, variation theory and analogical reasoning, a short-term intervention…

To meet increasingly complex mathematics standards in late elementary school, students must conceptually understand and be fluent in the operations of multiplication and division. This includes understanding the operations' inverse relation. The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of alternating concrete-representational-abstract…

Preschool education focuses on the efforts to provide fun and meaningful learning opportunities to children aged four to six years old. The main focus is the process of teaching and learning which is children-centered, emphasis on the findings inquiry concept, the use of integrated teaching and learning, thematic learning, learning through…

This investigation presents students with the challenge of determining the total number of eggs in a photograph of a stack of egg trays. The perspective of the photograph does not allow students to count all the individual eggs in the top tray but does allow them to see the number of eggs in one row and one column of the top tray. During this…