The beginning of the school year is a time of intense work for students and teachers, especially if it means learning mathematics in new ways (Ruef 2016). Students need guidance and support if they are shifting beliefs about what it means to do mathematics. This article shows how Torres and her students co-created new ways to be good at…

Anxiety, one of the most common underlying causes of challenging student behavior, typically goes undiscovered and unaddressed through school-based behavior supports. Jessica Minahan and Stuart Ablon combine their expertise as a behavior analyst and a psychologist to outline how best to support students whose anxiety leads to challenging behavior.…

The fear of making mistakes and avoidance of risks can create disabling anxiety and limit learning opportunities. However, it is possible to teach mathematics in ways that not only reduce student agency but also have the effect of excluding some students. This article proposes approaches that are intended to both foster student decision making and…

This brief provides an overview of how to identify and determine why a student may be avoiding or refusing to attend school, and ways that schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) teams can help to assess and address school refusal. We will introduce a research-based framework to engage in problem-solving to better support…

Problem solving is at the heart of mathematics, and is known to support learning for a diverse range of children. However, challenges can be encountered when teaching mathematics through problem solving. This article provides insights from research literature into: (1) the nature of the challenges; and (2) some ways that problem solving can be…

A sense of disillusionment grips many doctoral students as they face financial distress, lack of adequate mentorship, concern about job prospects, and other challenges. The Old Testament book of Malachi is a little-recognized resource for students struggling with feelings of disillusionment. Malachi's audience faced disappointment after joyfully…

Many dance artists in their first encounters with improvisational dance making begin not only to learn how to compose spontaneously, but also to gain skills for coping with the uncertainties inherent in the form. This article suggests helpful dance scores for beginning students of physical improvisation and those who teach improvisational…

The article discusses the integration of cartoons into a finite mathematics college course. However, cartoon integration is appropriate for any educational level STEM course. Students and the author used an online comic strip creator, MakeBeliefsComix.com, to create cartoons that connected concepts to the real world and history. Following Cho,…

Scientists and other professionals across the globe require employees to collaborate, think critically, and solve problems effectively. To this end, the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) have a vision of ensuring that through inquiry, collaboration, and evidence-based instruction, students will have the necessary skills to be…

The group work test is an assessment strategy that promotes higher-order thinking skills for solving context-rich problems. With this format, teachers are able to pose challenging, nuanced questions on a test, while providing the support weaker students need to get started and show their understanding. The test begins with a group discussion…

Many middle school students approach math with caution, often trepidation, and generally less-than-complete confidence. Several factors contribute to their views of what math actually is (a system of rules to follow and formulas to apply) as well as who might be good at it (people who can see the path to an answer and calculate quickly). A few say…

Afterschool teachers who tutor students or provide homework help have a unique opportunity to help students overcome the social or emotional barriers that so often block learning. They can embrace a creative and investigative approach to math learning. Margaret Kulkin's interest in being a math attitude "myth-buster" led her to apply to…

This guidance report focuses on the teaching of mathematics to pupils in Key Stages 2 and 3. It is not intended to provide a comprehensive guide to mathematics teaching. We have made recommendations where there are research findings that schools can use to make a significant difference to pupils' learning, and have focused on the questions that…

Recent research suggests that it is not simply experiencing anxiety that affects mathematics performance but also how one responds to and regulates that anxiety (Lyons and Beilock 2011). Most people have faced mathematics problems that have triggered their "run response." The issue is not whether one wants to run, but rather…

This paper describes a tutorial programme developed at the University of Western Australia (UWA) to enhance medical students' learning processes within problem-based learning contexts. The programme encourages students to use more effective learning approaches by scaffolding the development of effective problem-solving strategies, and by reducing…