The purpose of this study was to identify and describe students' use of number sense as they solved story problem tasks. Three 8- and 9-year-old students participated in clinical interviews. Through a process of holistic and qualitative coding, researchers used the number sense view as a theoretical framework for exploring how students' number…

Research findings have established that students often struggle with mathematical symbols including common misconceptions for literal symbolic representations of variables but provide little evidence of when or how these misconceptions arise. This article reports findings from a study of grade 4-6 students' conception(s) for various…

Teachers and students commonly use various concrete representations during mathematical instruction. These representations can be utilized to help students understand mathematical concepts and processes, increase flexibility of thinking, facilitate problem solving, and reduce anxiety while doing mathematics. Unfortunately, the manner in which some…

In that current study, pattern conversion ability of 25 pre-service mathematics teachers (producing figural patterns following number patterns) was investigated. During the study participants were asked to generate figural patterns based on those number patterns. The results of the study indicate that many participants could generate different…

The main goal of this paper is to show how Vasily Davydov's powerful ideas about the nature of mathematical thinking and learning can transform the teaching and learning of additive word problem solving. The name Vasily Davydov is well known in the field of mathematics education in Russia. However, the transformative value of Davydov's theoretical…

The aim of this paper is to investigate the ways in which the number line can function in solving mathematical tasks by first graders (6 year olds). The main research question was whether the number line functioned as an auxiliary means or as an obstacle for these students. Through analysis of the 32 students' answers it appears that the number…

In this study, we investigated to what extent arithmetic ability and self-regulated learning skills in the beginning of lower secondary school predicts measures of students' performance in mathematics at the end of lower secondary school. Arithmetic ability and self-regulated learning skills were tested the first two weeks in lower secondary…

Math Teachers' Circles have been spreading since their emergence in 2006. These professional development programs, aimed primarily at middle-level mathematics teachers (grades 5-9), focus on developing teachers' mathematical problem solving skills, in line with the Common Core State Standards-Standards of Mathematical Practice. Yet, to date,…