Students entering engineering programmes are typically expected to be competent in mathematics and science. Design competencies are seldom required. This research focuses on mathematics and investigates how concepts of mathematics may affect perceptions of design. Case studies, consisting of interviews and web-based material, reveal a range of…

Learning with multiple representations is usually employed in order to foster understanding. However, it also imposes high demands on the learners and often does not lead to the expected results, especially because the learners do not integrate the different representations. Thus, it is necessary to support the learners' self-explanation activity,…

Prime numbers are often described as the "building blocks" of natural numbers. This article shows how the author and his students took this idea literally by using prime factorizations to build numbers with blocks. In this activity, students explore many concepts of number theory, including the relationship between greatest common factors and…

This article looks at some of the conceptual difficulties that students have in a linear algebra course. An overview of previous research in this area is given, and the various theories that have been espoused regarding the reasons that students find linear algebra so difficult are discussed. Student responses to two questions testing the ability…

An old chestnut goes something like this. The surface area of a pond in the form of an annulus is required, but the only measurement possible is the length of the chord across the outer circumference and tangent to the inner circumference. It is a beautiful example of invariance. Invariance in mathematics usually refers to a quantity that remains…

With our conceptualization of Harre and van Langenhove's (1999) positioning theory, we draw attention to immanent experience and read transcendent discursive practices through the moment of interaction. We use a series of spatial images as metaphors to analyze the way positioning is conceptualized in current mathematics education literature and…

This exploratory study investigated the effects of audience appeal on fourth-graders' (n = 25) and fifth-graders' (n = 24) comprehension of and selective attention to narrative and academic content in educational program segments. Students were shown two program segments that focused on one of two math concepts, perimeter or scale, and that were…

Although preservice elementary school teachers (PSTs) lack the understanding of multidigit whole numbers necessary to teach in ways that empower students mathematically, little is known about their conceptions of multidigit whole numbers. The extensive research on children's understanding of multidigit whole numbers is used to explicate PSTs'…

The North Carolina Standard Course of Study 2003 mathematics standards call for third-grade students to develop fluency in solving problems that involve multiplication and division. Released test items from the statewide standards-based assessment include multiplication and division tasks that require students to read the problem, identify the…

This article first describes some of the basic skills and knowledge that a solid elementary school mathematics foundation requires. It then elaborates on several points germane to these practices. These are then followed with a discussion and conclude with final comments and suggestions for future research. The article sets out the five…

Investigations in Number, Data, and Space[R], published by Pearson Scott Foresman, is an activity-based K-5 mathematics curriculum designed to help students understand the fundamental ideas of number and operations, geometry, data, measurement, and early algebra. The curriculum encourages students to use prior knowledge to develop an understanding…

Common Core education standards establish a clear set of specific ideas and skills that all students should be able to comprehend at each grade level. In an effort to meet these standards, educators are turning to technology for improved learning outcomes. "Cases on Technology Integration in Mathematics Education" provides a compilation…

In 2010 twenty-three Maori medium schools were given the opportunity for professional development with the Draft Nga Whanaketanga Rumake Maori: Pangarau (NWRM) (National Standards Maori Medium: Mathematics. The study provided a unique opportunity to listen to teachers' views about their professional development as they sought to implement national…

The innovation of education is an important point of Pendidikan Matematika Realistik Indonesia (PMRI), one of them through traditional dance as a context of national cultural. Dance that collaborated with concept of mathematics, it is called Math Traditional Dance. This research aims to produce learning line (specific) the material of reflection…

Computer simulations and animations for developing statistical concepts are often not understood by beginners. Hands-on physical simulations that morph into computer simulations are teaching approaches that can build students' concepts. In this paper we review the literature on visual and verbal cognitive processing and on the efficacy of…