Due to the learning paradox, students cannot have real difficulty in understanding a mathematical concept that they have not yet understood. There is a gap between real difficulties, directly experienced by students, and illusionary ones, only observed by researchers. This paper aims to offer a critical reflection on our understanding of the term…

Processing rational numbers is difficult for many children. The natural number bias is one possible explanation for why children struggle with rational numbers. It refers to the tendency to overgeneralize the properties of natural numbers. In this study, it is argued that in order to be successful in rational number tasks, individuals need to…

Textbooks play an important role in teachers' instructional decisions (Jones & Tarr, 2007), which consequently affects students' learning. This paper reports on a comparison of the elementary mathematics textbooks used in Iran and the United States, the Go-Math textbook. I analyzed topic sequences, frequency of the tasks, and cognitive demands…

This study investigated the effects of working memory load (WML) and automaticity on mental addition through an examination of both task and individual characteristics within the framework of cognitive load theory. Results from 73 fourth graders showed that WML, automaticity, and their interaction had significant effects on mental addition.…

Based on our work teaching undergraduate Calculus courses, we offer insight into teaching the chain rule to reduce cognitive load for students. A particularly difficult topic for students to grasp, problems likely arise due to student struggles with the concept of function and, particularly, function composition relative to when they first…

In this pedagogical action research study, we, as post-secondary mathematics teacher educators, built on an existing effort to improve pre-service teachers' mathematical vocabulary understandings by intentionally addressing their struggles related to polygonal area formulas. Utilizing cognitive load theory and Bruner's levels of developmental…

In November 2022, ChatGPT, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) capable of generating human-like responses, was launched. ChatGPT has a variety of promising applications in education, such as using it as thought-partner in generating curricular resources. However, scholars also recognize that the use of ChatGPT raises…

Undergraduate students study the topic of binomial series expansion as part of their Calculus course. The purpose of this study was to explore the mental constructions of binomial series expansion of a class of 159 students. Data were collected through a written assessment task by each member of the class. A convenient sample of eleven students…

As an important branch of mathematics, geometry plays a very significant role in developing students' thinking, but many students need to improve their geometric thinking abilities, especially in understanding graphics and forms. Therefore, it is worthwhile to explore techniques and methods for developing students' geometric thinking, and…

Traditional rote learning methods often fail to adequately develop reasoning skills in mathematics, particularly among pre-university students. This study addresses challenges in fostering mathematical reasoning abilities, as evidenced by declining TIMSS results and resistance to pedagogical innovations. My online teaching with GeoGebra (MyOT_G+)…

This case study carried out during the 2020 coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown used online data collection means to investigate the distribution of cognitive demand levels of probability and counting principles (PCP) learning tasks in a popular online Grade 12 mathematics textbook, based on the PCP teachers' rating. The teachers'…

This paper provides a comparative study of mathematics textbooks as the primary construct via the Anthropological Theory of Didactics (ATD), which was founded by Yves Chevallard. The aim is to suggest principles that can be incorporated to improve the designing of mathematics textbooks. Definitions, examples, and tasks dealing with the teaching…

Background: Prior research with adults and children suggests that inhibitory control may have a role to play in learning counterintuitive fractions and decimals that are inconsistent with whole number knowledge. However, there is little research to date with primary school-aged children at the early stages of fraction and decimal instruction that…

Pictorial representations are often used to help children understand the situation described in a given number-sentence scheme. These static pictorial problems essentially attempt to depict a dynamic situation (e.g., one bird flies away while there are three birds still sitting on the fence). Previous research suggested that such pictorial…

Mathematical tools allow us to clearly explain the phenomenon studied in administrative science. Various studies have shown that linear function is a concept, widely used in administration, as well as in other kinds of science, but difficult for students to grasp and assimilate as a tool in their studies. That is the reason that the objective of…