This research was designed to study Taiwanese junior high school students' understanding about the validity of conditional statements. Distinguishing between validity and truth is a crucial topic in mathematical reasoning and argumentation but has been always neglected in the mathematics curriculum at junior high school level of schooling. The…

In the present article, we argue that the conceptual change approach to learning can apply in the case of mathematics, taking into consideration the particular nature of mathematical knowledge and the neurobiological bases of mathematical cognition. In the empirical study that is reported in this article, we investigated ninth graders'…

The research on conceptual change has so far mainly dealt with cognitive outcomes, but especially during the last few years there has been a growing interest in and discussion about the processes of conceptual change. The purpose of the article is to contribute to this discussion and to present a theoretical model of the dynamics among the…

This study focuses on the nature of preservice elementary school teachers' understandings of several concepts in elementary number theory that are evoked by a computer-based microworld called "Number Worlds". In particular, the focus is on the concepts of factor, multiple and prime number. The notion of "thickness" is examined with respect to…

A semiotic perspective on mathematical activity provides a way of conceptualizing the teaching and learning of mathematics that transcends and encompasses both psychological perspectives focussing exclusively on mental structures and functions, and performance-focussed perspectives concerned only with student's behaviours. Instead it considers the…

Background and aims: In order to develop arithmetic expertise, children must understand arithmetic principles, such as the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction, in addition to learning calculation skills. We report two experiments that investigate children's understanding of the principle of inversion and the relationship between…

This article reports on the use of a unique number system to facilitate teachers' understanding of the concepts of place value. Teachers' mastery of base-ten may hinder their recognition of the difficulties students have with place value, so the authors created a number system that used five symbols to represent values. Using this system, teachers…

This volume is a teacher's edition in a series of books that contain open-ended exploration activities and experiments. These activities allow and encourage students to set their own goals, use their own creativity and ideas, investigate the wonders of nature, learn about the workings of real businesses, and draw conclusions from their…

Team research is important in studying cognition as enactive. This paper contains four different pieces of research directed toward the evidences and artifacts of two students in Canada engaging in a sustained mathematical activity. These four portraits of mathematical cognition in action consider the conversation in which the activity occurs; the…

This book reinforces the outstanding work done by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in developing curriculum standards for students in kindergarten through fourth grade by discussing the 13 strands of mathematics and their implications for teachers and parents who work with students. It also provides some suggested resources…

Four preschool children with developmental delays were taught to name the numerical value of sets of geometric figures, the corresponding numeral, the corresponding number word, and the corresponding Roman numeral. Half of the stimuli were taught with instructive feedback and the other half without, as two conditions were established: the future…

The purpose of this document is to provide a framework around which systems and schools may build their mathematics curriculum. Important components of a mathematics education for the majority of students are identified. This document is presented in two parts. Part I, Principle for School Mathematics, addresses questions such as what is…

This paper describes a study that examined parents' beliefs about children's number skill development. Twenty-seven parents of 4- and 5-year-olds were interviewed about number tasks that could be solved by children between the ages of 4 and 7 years. In addition, parents were asked a series of open-ended questions about how they would answer a…

A mathematics curriculum for moderately and severely retarded and autistic students and adults should possess 10 necessary characteristics, including provision for instruction based on assessment results, stress on functional application, focus on generalization of skills, and specific criteria for mastery of each skill. The functional but…

This report, written in Finnish with a 10-page summary in English, concerns research on the interrelationship between Piagetian operations, various aspects of information processing capacity and mathematical thought processes and strategies related to number and measurement. In a theoretical discussion, Piaget's research on mathematico-logical…