Kitcher's idea of 'explanatory unification', while originally proposed in the philosophy of science, may also be relevant to mathematics education, as a way of enhancing student thinking and achieving classroom activity that is closer to authentic mathematical practice. There is, however, no mathematics education research treating explanatory…

Amongst important and under-researched questions are how introductory lessons can be designed for teaching initial proofs to junior high school students, and how such lessons enrich students' understanding of proofs. With a view to improving the learning situation in the classroom, in this paper we report on the various functions of introductory…

Recent research on the scaffolding of instruction has widened the use of the term to include forms of support for learners provided by, amongst other things, artefacts and computer-based learning environments. This paper tackles the important and under-researched issue of how mathematics lessons in junior high schools can be designed to scaffold…