We investigated teachers' perspectives about what opportunities for learning and teaching could be created using WhatsApp as a social network to help students prepare for the final secondary-school Bagrut (matriculation) exam in mathematics. Launched by the Ministry of Education and the Center for Educational Technology three months before the…

The current study is part of a comprehensive research on linking visualization, students' construction of geometrical concepts and their definitions, and students' ability to prove. The aim of the current study is to investigate the effect of learners' understanding of definitions of geometrical concepts on their understanding of the essence of…

Documents specifying a national mathematics curriculum for grades K-12 have recently been written in Israel. We focus on the calculus component for the highest of three matriculation bound levels, and specifically on the influence of research on this component. In addition to issues of content, we identify three principles that have led the…

Excellent Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) employees are in constant demand worldwide. The current study explores Israeli students' choices to study and pursue careers in STEM fields, while students' level of excellence in mathematics in secondary school is explored as a predictor for choosing a STEM track in future study…

This study examined students' ability to learn mathematics in a self-directed teaching environment. One of the main goals of the educational system is to nurture independent learners who can grow up to be inquisitive, critical, creative, and capable of piloting their own learning. This implies making a change in the way the role of the mathematics…

Engineers who choose to change careers and become mathematics teachers are a specific group as far as their mathematics learning in the context of engineering and their previous work experience are concerned. Regarding mathematics, they mainly engaged in applied mathematics associated with engineering, which is a highly practical field. This…

Studying mathematics is an essential condition for acquiring an education in most fields such as all exact sciences, financial sphere, programming, etc. It enables students to choose from among a large variety of professions with significantly high chances of academic admission, mainly in fields such as engineering, natural sciences, and…

The cognitive domain in mathematics, defined as thinking and understanding in the process of learning mathematics, is a main focus of curricula in many countries. This study explores breadth and depth of understanding as addressed in mathematics textbooks certified as aligned to Israeli national mathematics curricula. We compare opportunities for…

Researching students' responses to tasks at different year levels and in varied curriculum contexts can provide insights that relate their understandings to prior learning experiences and teaching approaches. In this article, we discuss evidence of students from three curriculum contexts (English, Australian, and Israeli) (n = 350) ways of…

This study aims to explore the conceptualisations of function that some students express when they are responding to fictitious students' statements about functions. We also asked them what is meant by "function" and many voluntarily used examples in their responses. The task was developed in collaboration with teachers from two…

Researchers of mathematics education have been paying attention to the affective aspect of learning mathematics for more than one decade. Different theoretical frameworks have been suggested to analyze this aspect, where we utilize in the present research the discursive framework of Evans, Morgan and Tsatsaroni. This framework enables to link…

Identifying and expressing relations between quantities is a key aspect of understanding and using functions. We are aiming to understand the development of functions understanding throughout school years in Israel. A survey instrument was developed with teachers and given to 20 high and average achieving students from each of years 7-11 and to 10…

The study presents an introductory idea of using mathematical averages as a tool for enriching mathematical problem solving. Throughout students' activities, a research was conducted on their ability to solve mathematical problems, and how to cope with a variety of mathematical tasks, in a variety of ways, using the skills, tools and experiences…

We present the second stage of a study within the context of geometry, whose aim is to investigate relationships between and influence of visualization, the concept images of students concerning geometrical concepts and their definition, and students' ability to prove. We focus on links between the understanding of the definition's role in…

Little empirical data are available concerning the cognitive abilities of gifted individuals in general and especially those who excel in mathematics. We examined visual processing abilities distinguishing between general giftedness (G) and excellence in mathematics (EM). The research population consisted of 190 students from four groups of 10th-…