Purpose: The purpose of this study is to develop a game-based mobile application to help learners practice mathematical patterns and structures. Method: The study followed a mixed-method research design and prototyping methodology to guide the study in developing the mobile application. An instrument based on the Octalysis framework was developed…

The purpose of this article is to present and discuss two recommended sequences of learning the areas of polygons, starting from the area of a rectangle. Exploring the algebraic derivations of the two sequences reveals that both are valid teaching progressions for introducing the area formula for various polygons. Further, it is suggested that…

Evaluation of the cosine function is done via a simple Cordic-like algorithm, together with a package for handling arbitrary-precision arithmetic in the computer program Matlab. Approximations to the cosine function having hundreds of correct decimals are presented with a discussion around errors and implementation.

In this age of easy access to the internet and to spreadsheets, easy-to-apply numerical methods exist that are vastly superior to Simpson's rule and the (corrected) trapezoidal rule. Gaussian quadrature (GQ) is such a method. What follows tells how enthusiastic Year 9 students with a physics problem provoked a science teacher into re-discovering a…

Kitcher's idea of 'explanatory unification', while originally proposed in the philosophy of science, may also be relevant to mathematics education, as a way of enhancing student thinking and achieving classroom activity that is closer to authentic mathematical practice. There is, however, no mathematics education research treating explanatory…

A simple discrete-time two-dimensional dynamical system is constructed and analyzed numerically, with modelling motivations drawn from the zombie virus of popular horror fiction, and with suggestions for further exercises or extensions suitable for an introductory undergraduate course.

Recently, people prefer learning information operationally rather than conceptually. In this context, this study was carried out to uncover how preservice math teachers construct in their minds the conceptual definition of limit within the scope of the Calculus Course. The participants of this study consisted of 62 (30 female, 32 male) sophomore…

Ratio and proportion have been part of school mathematics since the earliest manifestations of anything like school math in the Middle Ages. In this paper, I compile and comment on statements from primary sources of the last 2300 years to exhibit ideas that appear to have influenced the treatment of these topics in schoolbooks today. Historical…

For several decades, literature on the history and pedagogy of mathematics has described how history of mathematics is beneficial for the teaching and learning of mathematics. We investigated the influence of a history and philosophy of mathematics (HPhM) course on students' progress through the lens of various competencies in mathematics (e.g.,…

This paper introduces a percentage activity based on the context of "Black Friday" discounts. The aim of the study was to reveal the existing and new conceptions of the 7th grade students regarding the topic of percentage calculation. The activity was designed considering the students' prior knowledge in the concept of "Ratio and…

In general, many people still view mathematics as a subject that is far from reality and culture in everyday life. Historically, in fact, mathematics is very close to daily life and was developed by humans in response to the surrounding phenomena. Indonesia has diverse cultures, including in Yogyakarta. This culture can be used to explore…

In this brief article, Peter, Larissa and Doug present a single-page scaffold that challenges us to think of the mathematical proficiencies in a whole new way. By thinking of the proficiencies as verbs, they can be seen as purposeful learner actions and offer clues as to what it might mean to be a mathematician.

This study examines the use of languages (English and Irish) by bilingual undergraduate mathematics learners. Although many studies exist examining the role of language in learning mathematics, fewer studies have examined the specific use of languages by bilingual learners when engaged in mathematical thinking. This study adopts a commognitive…

This study questions the dominant approach in the presentation of the concept of slope in undergraduate education through mathematics textbooks. For this purpose, five mathematics textbooks, were analyzed for problems related to slope, and similarities and differences were revealed. First, the subjects related to the slope in the textbooks were…

Background: Prior research with adults and children suggests that inhibitory control may have a role to play in learning counterintuitive fractions and decimals that are inconsistent with whole number knowledge. However, there is little research to date with primary school-aged children at the early stages of fraction and decimal instruction that…