This study aims at elaborating a well-established theoretical framework that distinguishes three modes of thinking in linear algebra: the analytic-arithmetic, the synthetic-geometric, and the analytic-structural mode. It describes and analyzes the bundle of signs produced by an engineering student during an interview, where she was asked to recall…

Backward transfer is defined as the influence that new learning has on individuals' prior ways of reasoning. In this article, we report on an exploratory study that examined the influences that quadratic functions instruction in real classrooms had on students' prior ways of reasoning about linear functions. Two algebra classes and their teachers…

This paper investigates how mathematics teachers describe their ethical decision making related to instructional practices, drawing on frameworks that incorporate both rational and non-rational approaches. We employed a multiple-case study method, selecting three teachers as cases through criterion sampling. Data were collected via four…

In order to learn more about student understanding of the structure of proofs, we generated a novel genre of tasks called "Proof Without Claim" (PWC). Our work can be viewed as an extension of Selden and Selden's (1995) construct of "proof framework"; while Selden and Selden discuss how the structure of a proof can be discerned…

This study identifies characteristics of polygon class learning opportunities for 8-9-year-old children during the whole-class instruction. We consider the interplay between the geometrical tasks demanding different ways of reasoning, features of children's geometrical thinking, and the teacher's moves to identify characteristics of learning…

The aim of this study is to examine how algorithmatizing tasks engage mathematics students in algorithmic thinking. Structured, task-based interviews were conducted with eight Year 12 students as they completed a sequence of algorithmatizing tasks involving maximum flow problems. A deductive-inductive analytical process was used to first classify…

This work is the result of a pre-experiment carried out as part of a master's course, dealing with the study of the parabola through different mathematical views. It aims to recognize possible didactic obstacles in its teaching, based on intuitive manifestations in the resolution of a didactic situation based on GeoGebra software. The methodology…

In this article, examples are shown to demonstrate how open-ended mathematical activities can be used in the classroom. Open-ended activities give students opportunities to apply their understanding in unfamiliar contexts without the pressure of finding one perfect solution.

The concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) approach is an instructional framework for teaching math wherein students move from using concrete materials to solve problems to using visual representations of the materials, and finally abstract concepts. This study provides a literature synthesis and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of the CRA…

It is well-known that a key to promoting students' mathematics learning is to provide opportunities for problem solving and reasoning, but also that maintaining such opportunities in student-teacher interaction is challenging for teachers. In particular, teachers need support for identifying students' specific difficulties, in order to select…

Whilst educational goals in recent years for mathematics education are foregrounded the development of mathematical competencies, little is known about mathematics teachers' competencies. In this study, a group of practising teachers were asked to solve an algebra problem, and their solutions were analysed to determine the competencies apparent…

Task-relevant actions can facilitate mathematical thinking, even for complex topics, such as mathematical proof. We investigated whether such cognitive benefits also occur for action predictions. The action-cognition transduction (ACT) model posits a reciprocal relationship between movements and reasoning. Movements--imagined as well as real ones…

Habermas' construct of rationality is a tool adapted from social sciences into mathematics education to identify the difficulties in the proving process and to plan the teaching of proof for reducing these difficulties. According to Habermas, people engaged in an activity/action are considered to "act rationally" if they choose and use…

This study aimed to characterise preservice teachers' (PSTs') noticing in a mathematics classroom and its influence on their lesson modification. Written narratives on video-taped lesson observation were analysed qualitatively in two components, attending and reasoning. The findings indicate that PSTs' initial noticing focused on general…

Students need a robust understanding of the derivative for upper-division mathematics and science courses, including thinking about derivatives as ratios of small changes in multivariable and vector contexts. In "Raising Calculus to the Surface" activities, multivariable calculus students collaboratively discover properties of…