Word problems are frequently used in school mathematics to offer students the opportunity to explore mathematical relationships and structure. However, previous studies have reported that word problems are misused or abused in ways that overlook the original intent of exploring mathematical structure and relationship. This study aims to share a…

This article illustrates and differentiates the unique role cognitive interviews and think-aloud interviews play in developing and validating assessments. Specifically, we describe the use of (a) cognitive interviews to gather empirical evidence to support claims about the intended construct being measured and (b) think-aloud interviews to gather…

This study focuses on proportional division, a specific problem type of proportions and proportional relationships, which embeds a part-part-whole relationship. We investigated how students in grades 6 to 9 solved and perceived three proportional division problems. Analysis of the students' performance on the tasks revealed three types of…