Building activities can be used any time in the school year in mathematics classes to promote problem solving, perseverance, and to develop students' spatial thinking. Spatial visualization skills are the "ability to mentally manipulate, rotate, twist, or invert a pictorially presented stimulus object." The authors were guided by the…

With the advent of information technology, various online homework systems have often been utilized to enhance students' knowledge and skills. Several studies analyzed the effects of web-based homework systems on students' learning through comparing them with paper-pencil homework. However, few studies explored students' homework completion…

We investigated the impact of assistance on learning and affect during problem-solving activities with a computer tutor we built using the Cognitive Tutor Authoring Tools framework. The tutor delivered its primary form of assistance in the form of worked-out examples. We manipulated the level of assistance the examples in the tutor provided, by…

In this study, the elements of the design and results of the implementation of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) based on the problem solving and the use of digital technology are analyzed and discussed. The results show that the design of the activities, the intervention of the MOOC design team in the discussion forums and the interaction among…

Surface area is consistently identified as a curriculum standard for K-12 students and it regularly appears on national and international assessments. Recently, many schools began acquiring digital fabrication and advanced manufacturing equipment. The growing use of digital fabrication in classrooms raises the question of whether or not this…

This article describes an investigation of Buffon's coin problem and related problems with the aid of an applet. The problems are accessible at a variety of grade levels and facilitate making connections between geometry and probability.

Over the past decade, research on the use of technology in the mathematics classroom has focused primarily on issues of student learning and engagement. In this article, we focus on middle grades mathematics teachers' use of The Geometer's Sketchpad, and study both the decisions they make about when to use technology, and their motivations for…

NCTM's Process Standards support teaching that helps upper elementary level children develop independent, effective mathematical thinking. The books in the Heinemann Math Process Standards Series give every intermediate-grades teacher the opportunity to explore each standard in depth. With language and examples that don't require prior math…

In order to collaborate effectively in group discourse on a topic like mathematical patterns, group participants must organize their activities in ways that share the significance of their utterances, inscriptions, and behaviors. Here, we report the results of a ethnomethodological case study of collaborative math problem-solving activities…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)'s Process Standards support teaching that helps children develop independent, effective mathematical thinking. The books in the Heinemann Math Process Standards Series give every primary teacher the opportunity to explore each standard in depth. With language and examples that don't require…

The general background of this study is an interest in how digital tools contribute to structuring learning activities. The specific interest is to explore how such tools co-determine students' reasoning when solving word problems in mathematics, and what kind of learning that follows. Theoretically the research takes its point of departure in a…

This paper describes research into the framework of Computer Analysis Relationship (CAR) and its methodology together with software such as Scientific Notebook in a teaching and learning problem-solving environment to support student investigation as well as to enhance student logical thinking. CAR aims to motivate students how to subdivide a…

The design of technology tools has the potential to dramatically influence how students interact with tools, and these interactions, in turn, may influence students' mathematical problem solving. To better understand these interactions, we analyzed eighth grade students' problem solving as they used a java applet designed to specifically accompany…

Presents historical mathematics to students. Suggests allowing students to have two methods of problem solving with a graphing calculator to allow for a visual result. Indicates that students should have more than one opportunity to experience a solution to a problem, a variety of contexts for the problem, and an opportunity to communicate. (ASK)

Calculators can be used in primary schools in a number of situations. They are most beneficial when working with large numbers, dealing with real data that leads to complex calculations, performing repetitive calculations, developing concepts, estimating and checking, problem solving, and looking for patterns and/or relationships. But what if the…