In this article, we investigate the effects of the app "Fingu" on a child's understanding of the part-whole concept. Using the Artifact Centric Activity Theory framework, we initially analyse the internalisation and externalisation processes that appear to occur during one child's use of the app. Based on the learning from this process,…

This study examined the opportunity to learn function transformations afforded by the GeoGebra applets available on the GeoGebra website. Our analysis focused on the functions and their representations through which function transformations are explored in these GeoGebra applets, the effects and components of transformations that the GeoGebra…

The purpose of this study is to investigate how designers of commercial educational mathematics game apps describe various aspects of "integration". My investigation addresses several research questions, including what integration means to designers, why they build it into games, and how they do so. Integration is a concept described in…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of mLearning or mobile device practice on the attention and accuracy of student's use of math concepts, specifically, telling time. A single subject, alternating treatment design was used to compare mLearning to paper and pencil practice in four 3rd grade male students. Results were mixed;…

The algebraic group Spin[subscript 3 × 3] arises from spinning collections of the numbers 1-9 on a 3×3 game board. The authors have been using this group, as well as a corresponding online application, to introduce undergraduate students to core concepts in group theory. We discuss the benefits of using this deceptively simple, toy-like puzzle in…

Many studies have documented the challenges facing teachers who use digital technologies in their classrooms. This is especially true for digital technologies that offer new models or representations of school mathematics concepts. In this article, we report on a collaboration between teachers and researchers around the use of a novel touchscreen…

This study employed an alternating treatments design to compare the effects of two types of practice conditions on the subtraction fact fluency in a fifth-grade classroom. Eight, fifth-grade students participated in the study over a 5-week intervention period practicing addition and subtraction facts in a "fact families" condition (A +…

In recent years, studies have discussed how to introduce computational thinking (CT) concepts in mathematics education through mobile app development. In this study, the design of mathematics lessons based on the 5E instructional model to extend the idea of CT in a mobile technology environment (i.e., mobile CT) was investigated. Twenty-three…

Most any students can explain the meaning of "a[superscript b]", for "a" [element-of] [set of real numbers] and for "b" [element-of] [set of integers]. And some students may be able to explain the meaning of "(a + bi)[superscript c]," for "a, b" [element-of] [set of real numbers] and for…

After a discussion about the possibilities and status of augmented reality in education, a good practice example of an augmented reality application is presented. This case study examines the use of an augmented reality app in higher education to support abstract STEM content, such as vectors. Based on this example, the implementation of such apps…

Playing board games is known to improve pre-school student numeracy and many board games are used to motivate and explore concepts in probability. This study investigates whether college students in liberal arts mathematics courses assigned to play the board game "Settlers of Catan" develop a stronger grasp of basic probability concepts…

Following a line of inquiry regarding the exact number of real roots of a real polynomial, this investigation considers: Descartes' Rule of Signs, the Budan-Fourier Theorem, and versions of Sturm's Method in contrast with the approximate root count gleaned from graphing utilities. Online applets are provided to allow the reader to freely…

It is increasingly important for mathematics students to engage in active learning along with discussion of material with their peers. "Slopes" is a mobile application designed to visualize solutions to differential equations and support active learning in the classroom. We implemented group activities using "Slopes" into an…

The purpose of this study was to investigate a function machine in the form of a Vending Machine applet as a means to motivate preservice teachers to examine their own understanding of the function concept. The applet was designed to purposefully problematize common misconceptions associated with the algebraic nature of typical function machines.…

Understanding digital supports for early learning is paramount for school readiness and later mathematics learning. We present results from a randomized control trial evaluating a digital app (Measure Up!) and a parent companion app (Super Vision) designed to teach children measurement concepts, a skill that many teachers do not feel comfortable…