The symposium provides an overview of the Early Years STEM Australia (ELSA) program. The conceptual underpinnings of the program are framed within STEM practices, rather than traditional thinking concerning the integration of discipline content knowledge. We will argue that our focus on practices is more aligned with the play-based and intentional…

Proportional reasoning is important to students' future success in mathematics and science endeavors. More specifically, students' fluent and flexible use of scalar and functional relationships to solve problems is critical to their ability to reason proportionally. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of systematically…

This paper attempts to engage the field in a discussion about what mathematics is needed for students to engage in society, especially with an increase in technology and digitalization. In this respect, mathematics holds a special place in STEM as machines do most of the calculations that students are taught in K-12. We raise questions about what…

"Mathematical Thinking: From Assessment Items to Challenging Tasks" is a compilation of 36 problem-based lessons that encourage students to engage in productive struggle and deep thinking. Its 36 full-length lessons for grades 2-8 are each inspired by an actual test item from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).…

Mathematics discourse is a teaching approach that encourages student discussion and reveals an understanding of concepts as students engage in mathematical reasoning and debate (Cobb 2006). Grabowski and Ke (2007) posit that students have significantly higher achievement and positive attitudes toward mathematics after participating in gaming…

This paper represents research that exists at the crossroad of scholarly practice and scholarly inquiry. We share the design, enactment and empirical examination of an elementary methods course activity, Exploring and Supporting Student Thinking (ESST) which engaged 18 prospective teachers in two sessions of one on one problem posing with 3rd…

Supporting students' mathematical reasoning is an important goal of mathematics instruction, but can be challenging for many teachers .We report the results of a study aimed at better understanding and identifying the ways in which teachers support student reasoning when provided with conceptually rich tasks. This study resulted in the Teacher…

As computational thinking (CT) is increasing in focus in K-12 education, it is important to consider how teacher education programs may better prepare teacher candidates (TCs). Previous studies have found that TCs do not always have a firm understanding of what CT involves, and they might not have clear ideas about how to develop CT in their…

Although many factors affect students' mathematical activity during a lesson, the teacher's selection and implementation of tasks is arguably the most influential in determining the level of student engagement. Mathematical tasks are intended to focus students' attention on a particular mathematical concept and it is the careful developing and…

Mathematical thinking skills and meaningful mathematical understanding are among the goals of current mathematics education. There is a wide consensus among scholars about the purpose of developing mathematical understanding and higher order thinking skills in students. However, how to develop those skills in classroom settings is an area that…

Providing students with an opportunity to explore mathematical content through games allows teachers to include tasks that: (1) present alternative representations of the content; (2) welcome various expressions of mathematical reasoning; and (3) incorporate variations that empower all students to engage in the problem solving process. Games not…

The aim of this study was to determine pre-school teachers' beliefs about teaching mathematics to young learners. In this context, we compared preschool teachers' beliefs with mathematical learning, talent-development-age appropriateness for mathematical learning, the nature of mathematics, the curriculum, teacher efficacy, and the teacher's role…

Research about teacher noticing of students' mathematical thinking has been an important and ongoing strand of research and practice in mathematics education. Our work extends this agenda by working collaboratively with teachers to learn together how to notice students' mathematical strengths. The lens on strengths runs counter to the prevalent…

An engaging activity which prompts students to listen, talk, reason and write about geometrical properties. The "Bag of Tricks" encourages students to clarify their thoughts and communicate precisely using accurate mathematical language.

Developing pre-service teachers' (PSTs') knowledge of pedagogical practices can be particularly challenging within university classrooms. Teacher educators are well placed to provide PSTs with theoretical perspectives on pedagogical practices; what is particularly challenging, however, is linking theory with practice and developing PSTs' breadth…