With the advent of mobile technologies, well-designed fraction apps can be used to help children gain fraction knowledge, a challenging topic for both teachers and students. The present pilot study adopted a quasi-experimental design to investigate whether children can learn fraction concepts equally well if half of the lesson time (20 min) is…

This paper investigates the short- and long-term effects of both the home learning environment (HLE) and the teacher factors of the dynamic model of educational effectiveness upon student mathematics achievement. Written tests were administered to Grade 1 students (N = 1,444) of 48 primary schools at the beginning of Year 1 and at the end of Year…

This study aimed to explore if there are any differences in word problem solving skills of fourth grade students using animated-cartoon story vs. text-only story vs. non-story. For this purpose, word problems-embedded animated cartoon stories were created on computers and the same stories were written in text format on paper. The word problems…

This mixed-methods study explored the pedagogical practices of Prospective Elementary Mathematics Specialists (PEMSs) as they completed a university K-5 Mathematics Endorsement program. Participants were 13 elementary teachers at an urban, high-needs charter school. Data were collected via individual interviews, written reflections on enacted…

Among the critical components related to the improvement of mathematics learning are the design of high cognitive demand tasks and teachers' ability to maintain these cognitive demands during their implementation of lessons. We investigate the factors affecting the maintenance and decline of cognitive demand in the implementation of a statistics…

This work analyses the use of Spanish (mother tongue) by pre-service teachers (N=55) during a class activity that consists of explaining and solving Primary Education (6-12) mathematical problems in English (foreign language). The objectives are established in the form of three research questions about the amount of frequency of Spanish; its…

The purpose of this study was to examine the word-problem performance and strategies utilized by 3rd-grade students experiencing mathematics difficulty (MD). We assessed the efficacy of a word-problem intervention and compared the word-problem performance of students with MD who received intervention (n=51) to students with MD who received general…

Perceiving a 3-dimensional (3D) diagram on a 2-dimensional (2D) surface or plane can be a challenging endeavor for students at the elementary or primary grade levels. Adding to this challenge are the intricacies present in understanding the processes involved in geometric problems of such a nature. To ease the comprehension of these processes,…

Estimation is such an important yet sometimes overlooked skill. Enhancing estimation skills through exposing students to enumeration ('how many') problems where they are required to estimate before calculating is a critical aspect of developing number sense (Reys et al., 2012). This article describes a 'how many' problem undertaken with a small…

This is the first of two articles on the use of a written multiplication algorithm and the mathematics that underpins it. In this first article, the authors present a brief overview of research by mathematics educators and then provide a small selection of some of the many student work samples they have collected during their research into…

The foundation of geometric knowledge and understanding starts in primary school, and in contemporary mathematics education there is an emphasis on identifying learning progressions and trajectories as a way of moving students forward. The van Hiele (1986) theory is well-documented and provides insights into the progression and differences of…

A second-grade class visits Saint John's Food Pantry each year and spends the morning learning about the needs of the community. Then students pitch in and help the staff for a few hours. When the children return to school, they create signs advertising a canned food drive, and they place collection boxes at various locations around the school.…

Over the recent decades, much empirical evidence has shown the benefits of problem-based learning (PBL) over traditional teacher-centred pedagogy. However, research on problem-based learning (PBL) has focused more on students' learning outcomes and less on what it might take for teachers to implement it, especially in primary school and in…

Fractions are an important part of the primary school mathematics curriculum, being introduced to children in the Slovenian educational system during the second grade (at age seven). For clarification of terms it is worth mentioning that the term "fraction" is only introduced in the sixth grade. Before that, the term "equal parts of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present how experiences gained from a theory-informed lesson study -- learning study (LrS) -- in regard to a specific learning goal can be shared and used by other teachers in new contexts. Design/methodology/approach: A group of teachers worked together in a cyclic, iterative process of planning,…