In this article we address the 'educationalization' of authentic marine navigation tasks for upper secondary mathematics classrooms and their potential for students' learning. Our approach is based on boundary crossing and as well as on the distinction between realistic tasks (targeting students' familiarization with the marine navigation…

An important issue in mathematics education in many countries has long been how to make use of students' daily life mathematics (informal mathematics) in teaching mathematics at school (formal mathematics). This communication proposes an alternative framework of mathematics education that bridges informal and formal mathematics using…

In this article, I examine how a focus on preciseness in the mathematics classroom could affect group activity. The preciseness relates to the ways mathematical concepts, in this case angles are described in discourse between students. In this context, I consider how 'micro-invalidations', can limit students' opportunities to learn in a social and…

When deciding what constitutes students' "on task" or "off task" mathematical communication, teachers and researchers are also making judgements about what is, and what is not, mathematics. In this paper, we question our ability to separate the mathematical from the nonmathematical. We explore intersecting storylines in Grade…

Introduces a Vygotskian approach to learning with an emphasis on mediated activity within a particular socio-historical context. Addresses the relationship between mathematical learner and different sign systems (multiple representations) afforded by the graphic calculator. Contains 32 references. (ASK)

Investigates the heart of the experience of mathematical engagement and the meaning derived from such activities. Analyzes dialogue between five people, two of whom are professional mathematicians, another two who are graduate students in either engineering or education, and one who lacks advanced mathematical training but maintains a positive…

Focuses on the legacy of paradigmatics instruction in the Greek mathematics classroom, suggesting that it is based on false understanding of pragmatic logic as simply the translation of ideas into action. Offers discursive analysis of two short interactional sequences between the teacher and children in a 6th grade classroom in a primary school in…

In this article and part 2, the author focuses on how an individual appropriates notions from the socially-sanctioned body of knowledge called mathematics. Specifically, the author is concerned with how students, to a greater or lesser extent, internalise mathematical ideas that exist in the social world (on the chalkboard, in textbooks, in the…

Applying and adapting a variety of appropriate heuristic strategies is one of the accepted standards of problem solving (NCTM, 2000). Thinking through a solution to a non-routine mathematical task, experts in problem solving call into play many sophisticated strategies (almost) without conscious efforts, while novices need to be taught how to do…

Investigates young people's expression of mathematical ideas with a computer, the nature of mathematical practices, and the problem of mathematical meaning from cognitive and socio-cultural perspectives. Describes a mathematical activity system designed for learning and the role of digital technologies in helping to understand and reshape the…