Despite the prominence of analogies in mathematics, little attention has been given to exploring students' processes of analogical reasoning, and even less research exists on revealing how students might be empowered to independently and productively reason by analogy to establish new (to them) mathematics. I argue that the lack of a cohesive…

The basic notions of combinatorics, including systematic listing and permutations, are important topics of mathematics that are recommended to be learned eventually from elementary schools. However, there is little research in mathematics education regarding elementary students' combinatorial strategies. The purpose of this research is to…

Students exit calculus with understandings of change that want for conceptual depth and are disconnected from real-world contexts. In this paper, we present a problem that will develop their skills in using "change" concepts for learning differential equations through modelling. The problem comes from a qualitative study of how STEM…

Based on an enactivist perspective on learning mathematics, we articulate three key processes of designing mathematics-grounding activities (MGAs) where students' mathematical thinking can be motivated and shaped with the interactions between their enactments and the evolving tasks in the activities. Then, evaluation criteria and design steps will…

This article investigates the potential mathematical learning opportunities arising from a digital activity designed to enhance students' comprehension of equations. Employing a commognitive-oriented lens, the analysis explores the potential mathematical discourses that could emerge from students' interactions with a digital scale inspired by the…

An important approach for developing children's algebraic thinking involves introducing them to generalized arithmetic at the time they are learning arithmetic. Our aim in this study was to investigate children's attention to and expression of generality with the subtraction-compensation property, as evidence of a type of algebraic thinking known…

This paper shares a flexible activity for engaging people in mathematical inquiry that does not depend on fixed prior knowledge built on a famous property of Möbius strips. The discussion includes the implementation of the activity and its extensions, facilitator moves and common participant thinking, suggestions for adaptation and integration…

How we should teach mathematics has long been debated by advocates of different instructional approaches. These debates can lead to tensions that are difficult to navigate for those who are new to (or even veterans of) the profession. Educators often propose a "balance" of different approaches as a solution. Charles Munter considers…

The study of mathematics is often described as the science of patterns (Resnik 1981), and the cognitive tasks involving the search, recognition, and assessment of patterns are fundamental to learning mathematics. Patterning activities lead students to a better understanding of dependent relations among representations, create a transparent way for…

Classification is a complex process that involves scientific concepts and higher-order mental processes such as abstraction, generalization, and pattern recognition. Even though it is an important competence for understanding the world, dealing with data and information, and solving complex problems, the education system embeds just its simplest…

In studies over recent years, there has been an increasing interest in teachers' predicting middle school students' thinking processes. However, as far as we are aware, there are no studies examining students' thinking in terms of mathematical thinking components. This study primarily aimed to determine the mathematical thinking of middle school…

Computational thinking and activity are vital aspects of what it means to conduct scientific and mathematical work. In light of this, some propose that students' mathematical education should include an integration of computing into their mathematical experiences, giving students opportunities to engage with computational tools as they reason…

The aim of this study is to examine if differentiated instruction benefits the mathematical thinking process of gifted and talented students in Malaysia. Differentiated instruction is a student-centered technique in which instructors act as facilitators. It is doubtful, however, if differentiated instruction has a beneficial effect on the overall…

This paper explores Year 3 Irish students' problem-solving strategies when responding to a skyscraper growing pattern problem. Students' strategies reveal their understandings of multiplicative thinking, pattern, and algebraic reasoning. The version of the growing pattern lesson was that a 'teaching through problem solving' approach was taken,…

Professional noticing of children's mathematical thinking (Jacobs et al. in J Res Math Educ 41(2):169-202, 2010) is a construct that is used frequently to understand the ways in which teachers attend to, interpret, and respond to children's mathematical thinking. In this paper, we present our analysis of prospective elementary mathematics…