Effective and data-driven math instruction can maximize student learning and achievement. This Spotlight will help analyze best practices for developing math word problems; explore how showing students both the correct and incorrect solutions can improve their understanding; investigate math 'fact fluency' and strategies for strengthening it;…

Learning engagement and career-relevant skills are both important elements in learning. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research related to learning engagement in massive open online courses (MOOCs) from MOOC instructors' point of view. Research is also needed on MOOC instructors' strategies to provide career-relevant content to the learners. In…

There is an ever-increasing need for technologically literate citizens to find creative ways to solve societal problems. STEM, the integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects continues to be a popular topic as schools grapple with how to best prepare students for an ever-evolving society. As societal and technological…

Because creativity is an essential 21st century skill that must be developed in gifted and talented student populations, it is important for gifted and talented programs to nurture mathematical creativity. To shed light on this topic, this article explores three questions: What is mathematical creativity? How can we develop students' mathematical…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of Think Pair Share (TPS) learning models with problem solving approaches. The approach used in this research is a qualitative approach with the type of experimental research "The effect of Think Pair Share (TPS) learning model with problem solving approach to students' mathematical…

This paper reports a systematic literature review of the balance model, an often-used aid to teach linear equations. The purpose of the review was to report "why" such a model is used, "what" types of models are used, and "when" they are used. In total, 34 peer-reviewed journal articles were analyzed, resulting in a…

The Birthday Paradox problem can be investigated either with a carefully constructed spreadsheet (for greatest precision) or a calculator process (for reasonable precision). A number of ways of approaching this problem as a class activity are provided.

Visualisation is a necessary ability for students' mathematical education. The appearance of multiple Dynamic Geometry Software (DGS) has a stronger impact each day, and it raises many questions in the minds of researchers. In this paper, we present the findings of our exploratory case study in which a student preferring visual problem solving…

Storytelling has proved to be an effective way of passing on information from one generation to the next. Whether the information relates to history, culture, health, or morality, the story provides a framework so that complex ideas can be better understood and retained. In this article, we consider the role of narrative in the design and…

The purpose of this study was to investigate prospective middle school mathematics teachers' proportional reasoning before and after receiving a practice-based instruction based on proportional reasoning. The Proportional Reasoning Test, semi-structured interviews and observations of student teachings were used to collect data about the…

Creativity has been identified as a key characteristic that allows students to adapt smoothly to rapid societal and economic changes in the real world. However, Chinese students appear to perform less well in mathematical problem-solving and problem-posing abilities, which are strongly connected to mathematical creativity. Mathematical modelling…

Research in Organic Chemistry education has revealed students' challenges in mechanistic reasoning. When solving mechanistic tasks, students tend to focus on explicit surface features, apply fragmented conceptual knowledge, rely on rote-memorization and, hence, often struggle to build well-grounded causal explanations. When taking a resource…

The purpose of this qualitative action research study was to examine a published language arts curriculum, determine how Anna Craft's possibility thinking framework could be integrated into the curriculum, and then observe how students responded to the implementation of lessons integrating the elements of possibility thinking. The findings…

In Realistic Mathematics Education (RME), students should reach formal mathematics knowledge and explore mathematics based on their informal knowledge. The problems chosen in the exploration process should apply mathematics to real-life situations and be suitable for students to explore and create mathematical structures. In the current study, the…

The learning of mathematics poses specific linguistic challenges. Amongst them, teachers and students need to be able to unpack the language used in mathematics word problems to understand its context, discern the relationships between the known and unknown information, and identify relevant solution strategies. Prior research has described some…