The notion of definition is a central building block of mathematics. In addition to specific definitions, it is desirable that students learn about meta-mathematical aspects of definitions such as their role of classification, and about characteristics of definitions such as arbitrariness. We investigated how such meta-mathematical aspects emerge…

Background: Prior research suggests that the teaching of abstract concepts can be enhanced by the use of concrete examples, but there are few controlled studies. Objective: To replicate key findings from experiment one from Rawson et al. (2015). Method: Experiment participants studied definitions of abstract concepts from psychology, either with…

Since the early 2000s, the use of the term presentism has rapidly increased in both the historical discipline and public discussions of history. Most recently, presentism has been widely discussed and debated in articles about the pulling down and defacement of statues in countries around the world inspired by the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.…

'Emotional reactivity' (ER) is an important construct in the analysis of individual temperamental differences, and has accounted for significant variance in studies with respect to its definition. Between 1920 and 2015, the meaning of ER has varied from physiology of emotional reactions, to stress, depression, and as a sub-type of empathy. This…

The purpose of this study is to examine pre-service middle school mathematics teachers' (mis)conceptions related to definitions, classifications, and inclusion relations of convex quadrilaterals through a case study research design. The participants of the study were 20 pre-service middle school mathematics teachers who attended a must course,…

Teaching geometry courses for preservice elementary teachers, we observed that difficulty with classifying shapes (and, in particular, composite 3-D shapes) persists even after work with simple shapes to support the writing of accurate and unambiguous definitions. We conducted a self-study of our teaching of 3-D concepts to uncover the concept…

Declarative concepts (i.e., key terms with short definitions of the abstract concepts denoted by those terms) are a common kind of information that students are expected to learn in many domains. A common pedagogical approach for supporting learning of declarative concepts involves presenting students with concrete examples that illustrate how the…

This commentary is derived from the five empirical articles that appeared in the April 2017 special issue on student engagement (Liem & Chong, 2017). Drawing on others' critiques of engagement theory and research, and with full appreciation for theoretical and disciplinary diversity, I provide a high altitude, inclusive perspective of each…

This paper aims to revisit and clarify the term problem context and to develop a theoretical classification of the construct of levels of context use (LCU) to analyse how the context of a problem is used to formulate a problem in mathematical terms and to interpret the answer in relation to the context of a given problem. Two criteria and six…

Student transition into higher education has increased in importance in recent times, with the growing trend in Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development nations towards universal higher education provision and the concomitant widening of participation to include previously under-represented groups. However, "transition" as a…

In this dissertation I analyze the process of crafting definitions whose purpose is classification. The context I examine is undergraduate upper-division physical science majors defining and naming sub-categories of a physical phenomenon in the context of a design task over an extended period of time. The goal of the design task is one of…

This paper consists of a revision of the different definitions of euphemism, which, apart from certain restrictive and singular descriptions, can be classified, basically, in two groups: the extralinguistic and the strictly linguistic ones. After a critical-descriptive analysis of these formulations from the standpoints of both lexical semantics…

In the debate on vocational training in Europe the sectoral approach has been referred to for some time now, as the authorities expect that this will ensure, above all, a greater involvement of the social partners. But it remains unclear exactly what is understood by the term "sector". It is used in discussions as a standard, pragmatic…

Some of the assumptions, conditions, and parameters which deal with power structures and rural development are briefly specified in this paper. The definitions (conceptual and operational) for power, social power, authority, influence, power structure, development, and rural are discussed. The ideological orientation under which development…

"Bilingual education" is among the new technical terms which claim to add efficiency, precision, and clarity to an otherwise complex existence. The practitioner has the responsibility of making its definition useful--precise and comprehensive. For Alaska, a useful definition of "bilingual education" must be flexible enough to…