Interventions to support children with mathematical learning difficulties typically address deficits in domain-specific knowledge. However, not all students benefit from these instructional programs. In this case, some authors suggest an even more intensive instructional program combined with other factors assumed to be relevant for learning.…

This research paper reports strategies used by Grade 6 learners in multiplying whole numbers in five selected primary schools in Kavango East and West regions. A total of 200 learners' mathematics exercise books were analysed in order to identify the commonly used strategies by learners in multiplying whole numbers. A total of ten teachers…

To promote reversibility and strengthen number sense, the authors created an engaging and novel rational number exploration--Quotient Quandary Reversibility task (QQRT)--which promoted flexible and reflective thinking. A class of fifth-grade students took an active role in a collaborative learning task, discussed their strategies, revisited the…

Part of the research community that has followed the Early Algebra paradigm is currently delimiting the differences between arithmetic thinking and algebraic thinking. This trend could prevent new research approaches to the problem of learning algebra, hiding the importance of considering an arithmetico-algebraic thinking, a new approach which…

Numbers may be manipulated and represented mentally over a compressible number line oriented from left to right. According to numerous studies, one of the primary reasons for dyscalculia is related to improper understanding of the mental number line. Children with dyscalculia usually show difficulty when they have to place Arabic numbers on a…

Difficulties in mathematics have been described in very preterm children, but their origins are not well understood and may differ from other populations with specific learning disability. Very preterm children, children with learning disability, and typically developing children were compared in mathematics skills, using standardized tools,…

Pre-algebra mathematical competencies were assessed for a large and diverse sample of sixth graders (n = 1,926), including whole number and fractions arithmetic, conceptual understanding of equality and fractions magnitudes, and the fractions number line. The goal was to determine if there were clusters of students with similar patterns of…

Number Talks, created in the early 1990s by Ruth Parker and Kathy Richardson, have gained popularity in the mathematics education community over the past decade with the publication of the book series "Number Talks" (Parrish, 2010, 2014), and especially since the publication of "Making Number Talks Matter" (Humphreys &…

At the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) global pandemic, our interdisciplinary team hypothesized that a mathematical misconception--whole number bias (WNB)--contributed to beliefs that COVID-19 was less fatal than the flu. We created a brief online educational intervention for adults, leveraging evidence-based cognitive science…

This article focuses on how two mathematics teachers (Amy and Beth -- pseudonyms) cope with the changes of meanings in multiplication due to the changes of contexts. It highlights the qualitative similarities and differences between these two teachers in the sense-making process of multiplication. A potentially useful framework of supportive and…

We are pleased to bring you this follow-up to Mairéad Hourigan and Aisling Leavy's article [EJ1289314] that was published in issue 1 this year. In this contribution, they demonstrate that embedding mathematics within a rich context and learning sequence assists with the consolidation of student understanding and makes more effective use of teacher…

The present study analyzed the relationship between domain-general abilities and fraction knowledge in fifth grade, and investigated the mediating role of division competence in that relationship. Children (n = 175) were assessed in fourth grade on domain-general abilities (selective attention, working memory, fluid intelligence) and on division…

A relative extrema optimization problem is one in which the domain of the objective function (i.e. the function whose maximum or minimum value is to be found) is an open interval. An absolute extrema optimization problem is one in which the domain of the objective function is a closed interval. Analysis of task-based interviews conducted with 12…

High school students often ask questions about the nature of infinity. When contemplating what the "largest number" is, or discussing the speed of light, students bring their own ideas about infinity and asymptotes into the conversation. These are popular ideas, but formal ideas about the nature of mathematical sets, or "set…

The language involved in de-contextualized integer comparisons poses challenges, as students may interpret "most" based on absolute values rather than on order. Using the context of temperature, we explored how students' integer value comparisons differed based on question phrasing (which temperature is hottest, most hot, least hot,…