Including causal links in concept maps enables learners to meaningfully relate concepts to a larger context or problem in terms of how and where concepts apply within the chains of causal events that lead to a given goal or outcome. Given that higher quality maps are produced when students link and sequence events to flow temporally and…

This study aims to clarify the role of generating questions in mathematical modeling and construct principles for teaching and learning mathematical modeling with an emphasis on generating questions. To achieve this purpose, the role of generating questions was determined by solving a sprinkler problem and considering the investigation process.…

This article illustrates how teachers can use number lines to support students with or at risk for learning disabilities (LD) in mathematics. Number lines can be strategically used to help students understand relations among numbers, approach number combinations (i.e., basic facts), as well as represent and solve addition and subtraction problems.…

The 21st-century skills seek to develop learners who will be problem solvers in society. This paradigm shift requires the use of learner-centered strategies that emphasize collaborative problem-solving. To explore the effectiveness of such approaches, this study sought to determine how effective Wheatley's problem-centered approach would be in the…

This paper describes a model of mathematics bianshi teaching using one problem with several solutions, changes, and applications in an inquiry-based classroom. Based on the model of mathematics bianshi teaching, the author discusses a class-room experience where one Chinese mathematics teacher takes a simple plane geometry problem to guide…

In the context of a rapid digital transformation, digital competence is now regarded as a fourth cultural skill complementing reading, writing, and arithmetic. We argue that a well-structured and sound competence model is needed as a shared foundation for learning, teaching, pedagogical diagnostics and evaluative schemes in the school system.…

Despite continued efforts to address this issue, many students still exhibit misunderstandings regarding Newton's laws. These misconceptions include beliefs, such as every movement requires a force, that force is directly proportional to velocity, and that action-reaction forces can differ in magnitude. To mitigate these misunderstandings,…

Every educator knows the sinking feeling of a lesson gone wrong. As teachers look around the room and realize that many of their students are just not getting it, they often feel like failures. However, the struggle students experience as they persevere through high-quality challenging tasks is not a sign of failure, but rather a key aspect of…

The study examines the perspectives of using the Desmos calculator of Algebra I students' conceptual understanding and procedural fluency to write, graph, and solve linear equations in Algebra I STAAR. While the students have continuously used technology for mathematics assessment, emergent bilingual students in South Texas still need help passing…

This toolkit helps design teams engage in this process of implementing the "Design for Equity in Higher Education" model. For each phase of the model, this toolkit provides a short description and offers some questions and suggestions to guide practice. [For the companion report, "Design for Equity in Higher Education," see…

This article proposes an interconnected framework, "Ways of thinking in STEM-based Problem Solving," which addresses cognitive processes that facilitate learning, problem solving, and interdisciplinary concept development. The framework comprises critical thinking, incorporating critical mathematical modelling and philosophical inquiry,…

The role theory plays in research work cannot be over-emphasized. A theory that is apt gives direction to research work in explaining, organizing, analyzing, and predicting phenomenon and showing their relationships in order to enhance understanding. Despite these roles played by theory, upcoming scholars and students many at times fail to use…

This article concerns the synergy between science learning, understanding complexity, and computational thinking (CT), and their impact on near and far learning transfer. The potential relationship between computer-based model construction and knowledge transfer has yet to be explored. We studied middle school students who modeled systemic…

This study investigates prospective elementary and secondary school mathematics teachers' ways of reasoning about differentiability at a point and corner points while working on a mathematical modelling activity. Adopting a multiple-case study design, the participants of the study were 68 prospective elementary school mathematics teachers enrolled…

Productive problem solving, concept construction, and sense making occur through the core process of abstraction. Although the capacity for domain-general abstraction is developed at a young age, the role of abstraction in increasingly complex and disciplinary environments, such as those encountered in undergraduate STEM education, is not well…