Play is one of the most widely used teaching strategies in Foundation Phase. Grade 3 is the exit grade off the Foundation Phase in the South African context. This paper is an output of a Masters' dissertation that explored the use of play when teaching number sense to Grade 3 learners. The dissertation findings encouraged the researchers to…

Research on mathematical equivalence, and to some extent, on number structure in early grade mathematics, has shown that most students at primary and secondary levels understand these concepts instrumentally rather than relationally. The study reported in this paper uses a design research approach to explore both mathematical equivalence and…

The present study aimed to examine the opinions of in-and preservice middle school mathematics teachers about teaching four operations with integers through "number line" and/or "counters". Participants were 42 middle school mathematics teachers and 51 pre-service mathematics teachers. The data were collected through open-ended…

The comprehension of the place value concept which is based on the grouping of numbers in accordance with distinct systems is not so easy. One of the sources that may contribute to the comprehension of the place value and making connections with daily life is children's books. The effects of several tools on the comprehension of the place value…

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Prime Factors Chart (PFC) as an alternative teaching material, which was developed for teaching the concepts within the "factors and multiples" unit in the middle school mathematics curriculum. Twelve middle school mathematics teachers used the PFC to teach concepts, such as prime…

A problem sequence is presented developing the basic properties of the set of natural numbers (including associativity and commutativity of addition and multiplication, among others) from the Peano axioms, with the last portion using von Neumann's construction to provide a model satisfying these axioms. This sequence is appropriate for…

Adult proficiency in numeracy in the United States lags that of other developed nations, and the nonselective institutions that dominate the higher education sector struggle to address the learning needs of the sizeable proportion of students who enroll in their institutions and are deemed academically underprepared in mathematics. Research on…

The main goal of this paper is to show how Vasily Davydov's powerful ideas about the nature of mathematical thinking and learning can transform the teaching and learning of additive word problem solving. The name Vasily Davydov is well known in the field of mathematics education in Russia. However, the transformative value of Davydov's theoretical…

In this article Jessica Hunt explores the use of clinical interviews to gain a deep understanding of students' knowledge. Examples of clinical interviews are provided and advice for planning, giving and interpreting the results of interviews is also included.

The study aimed to investigate students' conceptions on the notion of absolute value and their abilities in applying the specific notion in routine and non-routine situations. A questionnaire was constructed and administered to 17-year-old students. Data were analysed using the hierarchical clustering of variables and the implicative method, while…

In the present research, we evaluated the effectiveness of a multi-year professional development program in mathematics for elementary teachers. Each year the program focused on a different domain of mathematics. We found the program increased teachers' knowledge of (a) number and operations, (b) measurement and geometry, and (c) probability and…

Now entering into its 20th year of data collection, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, (TIMSS) is an international assessment of mathematics and science at the fourth and eighth grades. TIMSS 2015 is the most recent in the TIMSS series, which began with the first assessments in 1995 and has continued every four years--1999,…

The Calculators and Mathematics Project, Los Angeles (CAMP-LA), funded by the National Science Foundation for developing use of technology in the classroom, developed curriculum materials focused solely on the use of calculators in three stages. The first stage studied the mathematics curricula from different states and identified topics that are…

This report describes phase 1 of a projected 2-phase project designed to investigate the feasibility of developing an interactive videodisc to teach math and science concepts to preschool handicapped children. A videodisc system is proposed that would allow children to manipulate real-world objects in order to acquire concrete knowledge about…

A broad range of research efforts are currently examining the quality and nature of the mathematics instructional program in the early grades. The purpose of this paper was to report on the assessment of a teaching-learning program in grade one classrooms. The major goals of the study were to: (1) identify patterns and change in children's…