This paper presents a qualitative study developed with a group of 16-year-old students who were asked to estimate large numbers of elements on a bounded surface. Taking the realistic mathematics education framework as a reference, we presented the students with an activity sequence comprised of four different tasks--each one with a different…

Quadratic functions are explained in the three equivalent formats: Standard (or Expanded), Vertex and Factorised. However, cubic functions are represented only in the two equivalent formats: Standard (or Expanded) and Factorised. In this article, the author shows how cubic functions can be expressed in three equivalent formats like quadratic…

Computational activity is increasingly relevant in education and society, and researchers have investigated its role in students' mathematical thinking and activity. More work is needed within mathematics education to explore ways in which computational activity might afford development of mathematical practices. In this paper, we specifically…

Extant research has demonstrated that problem-posing and problem-solving mutually affect one another. However, the exact nature and extent of this relationship requires a detailed elaboration. This is especially true when adidactical problem-posing arises within a problem-solving context. In this study, we analyze the scripting journey used by two…

The purpose of this paper is to integrate mathematical modeling and ecology by presenting an activity involving an authentic environmental problem, which is called "Pine Processionary Caterpillars Invasion." Adopting Mathematical Modeling and Education for Climate Action (EfCA) approaches, it was aimed to encourage pre-service teachers…

This study presents a teaching experiment in which second-grade primary school students compared a city and a town according to population estimates. The activities were presented to them as Fermi problems and required an analysis of the reality to identify sub-problems that students could deal with. The students' products were analyzed from the…

In this paper we present two simulations designed with GeoGebra that illustrate dynamically a key concept in Vector Calculus: line integrals of vector fields, along with other associated mathematical properties and applications. Students are not required to know the GeoGebra environment: a user-friendly interface with buttons, functionalities and…

The Dijkstra's algorithm is an algorithm that determines the shortest paths needed to go from a starting node to any node in a graph. In this article, the process and results of an activity that included route formation among the provinces in the Aegean region using Dijkstra's algorithm are shared. The activity was designed based on a mathematical…

Estimation is such an important yet sometimes overlooked skill. Enhancing estimation skills through exposing students to enumeration ('how many') problems where they are required to estimate before calculating is a critical aspect of developing number sense (Reys et al., 2012). This article describes a 'how many' problem undertaken with a small…

The teacher displayed counting cards that included both dots and numerals in order from one to five, as she counted them with her students. She then turned the cards facedown, keeping them in order, and began an identify-a-hidden-card activity with the class. This class was engaged in the third of three card activities that develop number sense…

Although counting problems are easy to state and provide rich, accessible problem-solving situations, there is much evidence that students struggle with solving counting problems correctly. With combinatorics (and the study of counting problems) becoming increasingly prevalent in K-12 and undergraduate curricula, there is a need for researchers to…

Incorporating computational thinking (CT) ideas into core subjects, such as mathematics and science, is one way of bringing early computer science (CS) education into elementary school. Minimal research has explored how teachers can translate their knowledge of CT into practice to create opportunities for their students to engage in CT during…

The desire to persuade students to avoid strictly memorizing formulas is a recurring theme throughout discussions of curriculum and problem solving. In combinatorics, a branch of discrete mathematics, problems can be easy to write--identify a few categories, add a few restrictions, specify an outcome--yet extremely challenging to solve. A lesson…

The plane problem is a real-world problem, presented without any suggestion as to how it might be solved. It arose unexpectedly as the author was messing around on the internet, not thinking about maths at all. She did not encounter the problem in a maths lesson, nor as homework in the middle of a unit on a particular topic, and so she had no…

Taped problems is an intervention strategy for addressing mathematics fluency that has been evaluated in multiple single-case design studies. Although its efficacy has been supported in individual studies, no comprehensive quantitative synthesis has been conducted on taped problems. The purpose of this study was to synthesize the literature that…