Teacher preparation for problem-solving instruction is essential to meeting the math needs of English learners (ELs) with math learning disabilities (MLD) in U.S. public schools. In investigating this instruction with Hispanic ELs with MLD, this study focused on how professional development supported one special educator's implementation of…

Spreadsheets provide a rich setting for first-year algebra students to solve problems. Individual spreadsheet cells play the role of variables, and creating algebraic expressions for a spreadsheet to perform a task allows students to achieve a glimpse of how mathematics is used to program a computer and solve problems. Classic optimization…

A key aim of mathematics teaching is for children to develop appropriate and efficient strategies for solving tasks. The analysis presented in this paper moves beyond the exploration of changes in the strategies that children employ to solve tasks and extends to observation and exploration of changes that occur when their overall solving approach…

Whole Number Arithmetic (WNA) appears as the very first topic in school mathematics and establishes the foundation for later mathematical content. Without solid mastery of WNA, students may experience difficulties in learning fractions, ratio and proportion, and algebra. The challenge of students' learning and mastery of fractions, decimals, ratio…

This paper uses the lens of a calculus student to examine different solutions to a weekly puzzler from the radio show "Car Talk," hosted by Tom and Ray Magliozzi. The puzzler describes an automobile that is traveling 75 miles per hour and is 75 miles from its destination. The trip is completed by traveling 1 mile at 75 miles per hour, 1…

This paper focuses on difficulties that primary school students have in facing mathematical word problems. In particular, we are interested in exploring how they develop in the transition from grade 2 to grade 5. The research basis of the hypothesis is that some difficulties detected in grade 5 are already predictable in grade 2. Starting from the…

The purpose of this research is to examine fourth grade students' ability to solve mathematical problems which have the same solutions but are given in three different formats as "symbolic, numerical and story (word) problem" and which require four operations. Within this frame, the students' solutions in different formats, their…

Children with intellectual disabilities experience well-documented challenges in the development of problem-solving, particularly related to mathematical word-problem solving. Such challenges are related to both linguistic and conceptual skills. While interventions to assist children in developing conceptual skills are well reported, linguistic…

Microcredentials are a promising means for expanding teacher access to high quality professional development. This study examined the effectiveness of online, self-paced microcredential courses designed for teachers working in underserved rural communities. The content of these competency-based microcredentials centered on recommended…

Analyses were conducted with second graders, drawn from an ongoing multi-cohort randomized controlled trial (RCT), who had been identified for RCT entry based on comorbid reading comprehension and word-problem solving difficulty. To estimate pandemic learning loss, we contrasted fall performance for 3 cohorts: fall of 2019 (pre-pandemic; n = 47),…

The study examines language dimensions of mathematical word problems and the classification of mathematical word problems according to these dimensions with unsupervised machine learning (ML) techniques. Previous research suggests that the language dimensions are important for mathematical word problems because it has an influence on the…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a mathematics intervention that utilized the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework on mathematical problem solving skills for three middle school students with extensive support needs (ESN). Participants were taught to solve percent of change word problems related to personal finance…

Singaporean children are the best performers on international achievement tests in mathematics (i.e. the TIMSS). Their excellent results could be due at least partly to certain characteristics of the textbooks used there (Oates 2014). Therefore, these materials could be taken as a good benchmark to describe and evaluate aspects of the textbooks of…

In this study we investigated word-problem (WP) item characteristics, individual differences in text comprehension and arithmetic skills, and their relations to mathematical WP-solving. The participants were 891 fourth-grade students from elementary schools in Finland. Analyses were conducted in two phases. In the first phase, WP characteristics…

This paper presents the second phase of a larger research program with the purpose of exploring the possible consequences of a gap between what is done in the classroom regarding mathematical word problem solving and what research shows to be effective in this particular field of study. Data from the first phase of our study on teachers'…