Student multimodal writing has gained attention in the teaching and learning of mathematics with the anticipation that these assignments will benefit student engagement and learning in a variety of ways. This study investigates students' perceptions of learning in a post-secondary calculus course, which contained four multimodal writing…

Although modeling is an integral process in applied mathematics, students rarely encounter modeling opportunities in their calculus courses. We introduce a laboratory experience as a starting point for calculus students to investigate multivariable functions. A layered system of coffee and milk serves as a physical model for temperature gradients…

Almost twenty years ago, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) published "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" (2000), which recommended that teachers should incorporate more writing into their math lessons, claiming that writing helps students "consolidate their thinking" (p. 402) by causing them…

Content area literacy has an important role in helping students understand content in specific disciplines, such as mathematics. Although the strategies are not unique to each individual content area, they are often adapted for use in a specific discipline. For example, mathematicians use mathematical language to make sense of new ideas and…

In the age of the internet, it is increasingly difficult to write homework assignments in a way that encourages students to struggle with a problem on their own without seeking answers from other sources. This is especially true in lower-level courses, where students often start with the attitude of "I can't do this." In this article, I…

One of the greatest challenges facing students new to calculus is the ability to persevere in the face of failure. Whether the student is choosing an integration technique or a series test, calculus is often the first course in mathematics where the path to the solution is not prescribed in an algorithmic way. At Jacksonville University we…

Although writing in mathematics has been advocated in practitioner journals, policy documents, and various research, surveys of mathematics teachers between 1988 and 2008 in various English-speaking countries have reported relatively infrequent incorporation into mathematics lessons. Further, much of prior survey research has yielded only…

Many teachers' experiences in problem-based classrooms are limited, therefore, mathematics teacher educators face a significant challenge when trying to inspire in-service teachers (ISTs) to teach through problem solving. To address this challenge, the professor in a mathematics education course designed and implemented an instructional model…

Writing about mathematics holds a wealth of benefits for students. When students are given opportunities to write in math class, it helps develop mathematical thinking and language, encourages self-reflection, and provides a better way to organize ideas. Many teachers incorporate journaling and other types of reflective writing into their…

One way to heighten students' interest in the classroom is by personalising tasks. Through designing Robot Bioglyphs students are able to explore personalised data through a creative and engaging process. By understanding, producing and interpreting data, students are able to develop their statistical literacy, which is an essential skill in…

In this study, we examine how literacy connections with multiple step mathematics problems affected mathematics learning for 4th grade students. Three fourth grade teachers incorporated writing activities in their mathematics classroom for two weeks. The level of teacher scaffolding decreased as students progressed through the problems. The…

Our research includes undergraduate students who major in primary school education. Their academic background is prevailingly in the humanities. This poses specific demands on their mathematics instruction at university. To attract them to their mathematics course and raise its effectiveness, we use a series of activities. Writing assignments…

Teachers' beliefs about mathematics can play a role in their teaching effectiveness (Bandura, 1993). Negative attitudes toward math (e.g., math anxiety) or low self-efficacy beliefs for teaching math can act as barriers to the teaching process, impacting the achievement and math beliefs of students (Beilock, Gunderson, Ramirez, & Levine, 2010;…

For students with little experience in mathematical thinking and conceptualization, writing-to-learn activities (WTL) can be particularly effective in promoting discovery and understanding. For community college students embarking on a first calculus course in particular, writing activities can help facilitate the transition from an "apply…

Writing and communication are essential skills for success in the workplace or in graduate school, yet writing and communication are often the last thing that instructors think about incorporating into a mathematics course. A mathematical modeling course provides a natural environment for writing assignments. This article is an analysis of the…