A clear relationship exists between the consistent selection and implementation of cognitively demanding tasks and students' conceptual understanding of mathematics. However, mathematics teachers often struggle to maintain the cognitive demand of implemented tasks, with a number of factors identified as contributing to this decline. As many…

Let's say you are a Grades 3-5 teacher in search of an activity sheet on different fraction notations. A search in May 2022 on the popular resources sharing site TeachersPayTeachers (TpT) yielded 2,832 results, 105 of which were free. With so many options, how would you go about choosing a resource for your students? What would factor into your…

Generalizing patterns is an important feature of algebraic reasoning that is accessible to students across grade-levels because it connects their numerical reasoning to algebraic reasoning. In this article, the authors describe how teachers can use the game Crack the Code to introduce generalizing to their students or can extend students'…

This paper outlines a seven-step process for developing problem-solving tasks informed by cognitive load theory. Through an example of a task developed for Year 2 students, we show how this approach can be used to produce challenging mathematical tasks that aim to optimise cognitive load for each student.

The importance of the knowledge of fractions in mathematical learning, coupled with the difficulties students have with them, has prompted researchers to focus on this particular area of mathematics. The term "fraction proficiency" used in this article refers to a person's conceptual comprehension, procedural skills and the ability to…

Although many factors affect students' mathematical activity during a lesson, the teacher's selection and implementation of tasks is arguably the most influential in determining the level of student engagement. Mathematical tasks are intended to focus students' attention on a particular mathematical concept and it is the careful developing and…

As part of a project exploring various aspects of teachers' choice and use of challenging mathematics tasks, we sought some responses from students on their preferences for the difficulty of tasks on which they might work and also on the ways of working. Despite the common finding that teachers are reluctant to pose challenges to their students…

The Encouraging Persistence Maintaining Challenge (EMPC) Project has been working with secondary teachers in Melbourne as they seek to build persistence in students, during work on challenging mathematics tasks. The authors have developed sequences of tasks in various topic areas for Years 7 and 8, which require students to connect different…