The Building Painted Cubes Task is a groupworthy algebraic task. Students build cubes using linking unit cubes, search for algebraic patterns, and report findings on posters. This task can create spaces for students to see themselves as doers of mathematics.

In the context of an afterschool program in which students explore relatively large authentic datasets, we investigated how 11- to 14-year old students worked with categorical variables. During the program, students learned to use the Common Online Data Analysis Platform (CODAP), a statistical analysis platform specifically designed for middle and…

Computational Thinking (CT) skills are increasingly recognized as essential for junior high school students, especially in addressing the demands of the digital era. This study explores how CT skills--decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithmic thinking--manifest in learning statistics based on students' cognitive abilities. A…

Middle school students often enter Computer Science (CS) classes without previous CS or Computational Thinking (CT) instruction. This study evaluated how Code.org's block-based programming curriculum affects middle school students' CT skills and attitudes toward CT and CS. Sixteen students participated in the study. This was a mixed methods action…

This case study explores how 12-13-year-old students encounter proportional reasoning while working with geometric patterning tasks using concrete materials. The focus is on the students' use of spontaneous concepts when first dealing with such patterns in the context of collaborative work. Based on video recordings of a single lesson, a…

The purpose of this study was to explicate one preservice middle grades mathematics teacher's Knowledge of Content and Students (KCS) in the context of multiple solution strategies. This study's purpose is to underline the importance of preservice teachers' KCS and provide possible investigative methods for evaluating preservice teachers' KCS.…

Every student has mathematical strengths beyond knowing basic facts, solving problems quickly, or showing work clearly. In this article, the author presents Smiles as an "on-ramp" task that supports students working together by unveiling and leveraging mathematical strengths. Nielsen describes on-ramp mathematics tasks as scaffolds that…

Generalizing, conjecturing, representing, justifying, and refuting are integral parts of algebraic thinking and mathematical thinking in general (Lannin et al., 2011). The activity described in this article makes a case for generalizing as an overall mindset for any introductory algebra or geometry class by illustrating how generalization problems…

Adaptive reasoning is one of five components students use to develop mathematical expertise and become mathematically proficient. When students adapt their reasoning they are logically thinking about the mathematical relationships between concepts and adapting their thinking to solve problems. Three Act Math Tasks are popular math problems used in…

This study mined student interactions with visual representations as a means to automate assessment of learning in a complex, inquiry-based learning environment. Log trace data of 143 middle school students' interactions with an interactive map in Research Quest (an inquiry-based, online learning environment) were analyzed. Students used the…

Given the importance of modelling in mathematics classrooms, and despite the extensive body of research on teacher support for promoting the mathematical modelling cycle in the classroom, authors have overlooked how teacher support for argumentation can contribute to this cycle. This study is aimed at characterizing teacher support for…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the tessellation performance of 8th-grade students and factors affecting their performance. Student performances have been examined in two dimensions: identification and completion of tessellation. In this context, a diagnostic test containing two main questions with the content of determining whether…

Many Grade 9 mathematics learners face difficulties in solving number-pattern problems due to insufficient exposure to strategies in solving such problems. The aim of this exploratory qualitative study was to investigate Grade 9 mathematics learners' strategies in solving number-pattern problems. The problem-solving conceptual framework of Singer…

Within the last decade, different educational data mining techniques, particularly quantitative methods such as clustering, and regression analysis are widely used to analyze the data from educational games. In this research, we implemented a quantitative data mining technique (clustering) to further investigate students' feedback. Students played…

We investigated the feasibility of using automatic speech recognition (ASR) and natural language processing (NLP) to classify collaborative problem solving (CPS) skills from recorded speech in noisy environments. We analyzed data from 44 dyads of middle and high school students who used videoconferencing to collaboratively solve physics and math…