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In this article we argue that in South Africa the current format of legitimised participation and practice in the examination papers for Mathematical Literacy restricts successful apprenticeship in the discipline of scientific mathematics and limits empowered preparation for real-world functioning. The currency of the subject, then, is brought into question. We further argue that the positioning of the subject as a compulsory alternative to Mathematics and the differential distribution of these two subjects to differing groups of learners facilitates the (re)production and sustainment of educational disadvantage. We draw on Dowling’s theoretical constructs of differing domains of mathematical practice and positions and focus analysis on a collection of nationally set exemplar Grade 12 examination papers to identify legitimised forms of participation in the subject. We conclude by arguing for a reconceptualised structure of knowledge and participation in Mathematical Literacy and make preliminary recommendations in this regard.

This paper presents a new and innovative examination method designed to foster creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration in mathematics education. Traditional assessment practices often focus on rote memorization and fail to engage students in the exploration of mathematical concepts and connect the content to real-world problems. In contrast, the proposed examination approach requires students to invent and solve their own mathematical tasks based on their personal interests and experiences. By actively engaging with mathematical concepts and relationships, students deepen their understanding while developing essential skills such as communication, self-assessment, and peer feedback. Anonymized peer correction is also introduced as a means of minimizing bias and promoting objectivity and a wider understanding. The study investigates student perceptions of the examination based on their experiences regarding its effects on creativity and problem-solving skills. The findings suggest that the new way of examining may not only enhance students’ mathematical understanding and problem-solving abilities but also foster a collaborative learning environment that encourages communication and peer support. The paper concludes that the adoption of this new method has the potential to transform traditional assessment practices and promote more engaged, creative, and collaborative learning experiences for students in a wide range of subjects.

This paper aims to identify and analyze the theme of Financial Education (EF) in academic research in the latest editions of ENEM, CIBEM and SIPEM. The methodological approach is qualitative of the bibliographical. We believe that the SBEM electronic database enabled a bibliographic survey of academic production. The results pointed to the need to promote discussions about EF in the school environment, recognizing its contribution to the integral and critical formation of the subject, its articulation with social, political, economic, environmental and cultural problems, making education a progressively active social force. They also highlighted the urgent need to implement continuing education programs that enable the planning and implementation of more assertive teaching practices in this area.

Since the publication of the Base Nacional Comum Curricular (National Common Curricular Base), Financial Education has become a topic to be developed in the classroom, mainly related to the mathematics curriculum. In this sense, teachers are in charge of addressing it. In view of this, in this paper we aim to discuss understandings of Financial Education aimed at Basic Education and produced by mathematics undergraduates, mobilized in two training meetings. Based on Critical Mathematics Education and the qualitative research paradigm, we identified five topics using content analysis procedures. The results of the analysis of these topics indicate that the future teachers have knowledge of School Financial Education, although they relate the subject to economic aspects and Financial Mathematics.

The South African Language in Education Policy (LiEP) advocates using African languages in the Foundation Phase (FP) which is the first phase of formal schooling in South Africa. This paper seeks to identify the challenges in implementing the language provisions prescribed in the LiEP in South Africa and within the region. Using the challenge-based learning (CBL) approach, this paper provides a glimpse into the challenges that 50 FP teachers based in six rural schools in South Africa face when using African languages as LoLT when teaching mathematics. Data collected through questionnaires, focus-group interviews, and observations in mathematics classrooms were used to illuminate these challenges. The results indicate that teachers experienced three main challenges: multilingual learners and learners who were taught in English in pre-school, English scripted lesson plans, and teacher training that was only provided in English. Importantly this paper identified a language disjuncture between policy and practice where the policy requires teachers to teach in African languages while the teaching material is written in English.

Though the curriculum reform movement that began in 1989 has had a significant impact on calculus pedagogy and content (Windham, 2008), the question remains to what extent reform-based calculus textbooks reflect these reforms. This paper explores this question by analyzing the mathematical content and pedagogical approach of the chapter on functions in Hughes-Hallett et al.’s (2018) reform-based college textbook Calculus: Single and Multivariable (CS&M). To conduct this analysis, the paper first synthesizes Hwang et al.’s (2021) framework for analyzing mathematics textbooks along with Sood and Jitendra’s (2007) framework for comparing traditional and reform-based mathematics textbooks. The paper then applies the synthesized frameworks to identify elements of reform from the big ideas, contextual features, mediated scaffolding, problem solving activities, and STEM integration found in the CS&M chapter. The results suggest that, although the chapter integrates many reform-based principles, there may be scope for further integration. Such efforts, however, may be constrained by influential stakeholders.

The undoubted benefits and intrinsic virtues of mathematics should not blind us to potential collateral damage as the huge juggernaut of mathematics rolls over education and society towards a reshaped future. Because of its great power and influence across the whole of society we need to undertake an ethical audit. This paper conducts an ethical critique that considers four interrelated aspects of mathematics in education and society and their negative impacts. 1. The overvaluation of mathematics and the effects this power has in maintaining privileges. 2. The powerful negative impacts of mathematical studies have on many individual learners. 3. Visible but problematic applications of mathematics within society that are shielded from criticism because mathematics continues to be viewed as neutral. 4. The profound and performative effects of the hidden applications of mathematics that reformat society and change our everyday lives but remain unchecked in every sense. Most of the paper is devoted to revealing these damaging effects. The solutions proposed are for ethical awareness to be fostered in mathematical study at all levels, as well as challenging the widespread stereotype of mathematics as ethically neutral.

This paper discusses theoretical and curricular aspects of computational thinking in curriculum and detects recent perspectives and challenges noticed in introducing computational thinking in STEM in Australian Schools. It presents the way computational thinking is defined and understood in curriculum documents and a set of relatively new implementations that were designed nationally and in the state of New South Wales. This paper uses qualitative research methods such as content analysis and text analysis. The research analyses some recent trends in introducing computational thinking and explores these reforms that are described in the official documents. It was noticed that although the importance of computational thinking was highly emphasized, the documents cannot describe a consistent implementation of this set of educational policies, as at this time implementing computational thinking is largely underperforming. It is recommended a more systemic way of designing policies and curriculum content for the integration of computational thinking in Australian schools is needed. Future research needs to explore reasons for delaying these reforms of introducing computational thinking.

This is a theoretical paper focusses on Indonesian school system. The challenge for education in Indonesia according to the former Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia, Anies Baswedan, was how to help Indonesian students to be independent learners and to have good characters (Kemdikbud, 2014). The 2013 Curriculum proposed Scientific Approach to be implemented in Indonesian mathematics classes. Scientific Approach consists of five steps: (1) observing, (2) questioning, (3) collecting data, (4) reasoning, and (5) communicating. This paper discusses how two approaches, namely Scientific Approach and the Japanese Problem-solving Approach (PSA), can help Indonesian students to improve their thinking, creativity, and innovation during mathematics teaching and learning in classroom. The paper will provide some practical examples of problem-solving using these two approaches.

The purpose of the present paper is to show how some current researches – published in papers and books – approach the difficulties in Mathematics learning. We intend to reflect on teaching and learning Mathematics by analysing some aspects that have been pointed out, especially about learning difficulties some students have in Mathematics area. We used the research qualitative approach with procedures of document analysis. At first, we described the meaning of the word ‘difficulty’, passing through learning difficulties and learning difficulties in Mathematics. The latest researches point the urgent need of a didactic overhaul in Mathematics teaching and maturation of all school communitiy, regardless the teaching level, concerning learning difficulties.

The paper investigates how the order of numerical data in word problems on division of a whole into unequal parts affects achievement and reasoning of 14-16-year old pupils. The variable was altered in two word problems, in one of which also the context was changed (psychological variable) and in the latter “if-clause” is or is not used (linguistic variable). 182 pupils were involved in the experiment. The solutions were analysed quantitatively using Item Response Theory as well as qualitatively. The data suggest that pupils’ success is affected by the order of numerical data in the statement in an unfamiliar context. The presence of “if-clause” in the statement was studied in a two-level problem. The order of numerical data played its role in case of formulations without “if”. The results of the experiment are of interest for mathematics education as well as for construction of tests. The paper is an extended version of the paper by Novotná (2018).

This is a companion paper and should be read with the earlier one (White, 2017) that focused mainly on Australian governmental policies. In this paper, a more classroom and student focus will be adopted while summarising a few of the salient points of the first paper. A brief listing of five different types of mathematical literacy is provided. The definition used by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is selected and some brief remarks are provided on this program. PISA items are presented in the form of word problems. If a country such as Australia or Indonesia wants to improve their PISA results then it would demand that some class time is devoted to the development of the abilities of younger students to handle word problems before they turn fifteen and are subjected to PISA. To support classroom teachers, Newman (1977, 1983) defined five specific mathematical literacy levels as crucial to performance on mathematical word problems: reading, comprehension, transformation, process skills, and encoding. Newman's Error Analysis (NEA) provides a framework for considering the reasons that underlay the difficulties students experience with mathematical word problems and a process that assists teachers to determine where misunderstandings occur. NEA also provides directions for where teachers could target effective teaching strategies to overcome them. There is a brief discussion of strategies to assist students improve their mathematical literacy.

This paper demonstrates a teacher-as-researcher intervention study of Student Self-Assessment, utilizing GeoGebra activities on the topic of relationships of geometric figures. The teacher researcher studied students’ achievements and self-directed learning by including Student Self-Assessment (SSA) and by teaching procedural knowledge and conceptual knowledge using eleven GeoGebra-based tasks at the same time. The data were collected via questionnaire, interview, as well as two tests which were given after task 6 and task 11 were completed. The teacher researcher oversaw the progress of the 24 Thai male and female junior high mathematics students (13-14 years old), and offered prompt guidance and support using normal classroom techniques.The findings indicated that the utilization of SSA and GeoGebra had a positive impact on these students' academic performance and their ability to take charge of their learning in mathematics classes. Specifically, the intervention led to 1) improved communication between student and teacher; 2) improved students’ understanding of what they needed to learn; 3) improved students’ confidence to ask for help from the teacher; 4) promoted student achievement; and 5) promoted self-directed learning in mathematics lessons.

Doctoral programs in mathematics education were established more than a century ago in the United States. From 2010-2014 over 120 different institutions graduated at least one doctorate in mathematics education. There has been limited research reported on the nature of doctoral programs in mathematics education and/or their doctoral graduates. This paper provides a synthesis of research findings related to doctoral preparation in mathematics education that is accompanied by a reflection on the findings and suggestions for future research. The intent of our paper is to provide a rallying call for more widespread and coordinated research on doctoral programs in mathematics education in order to strengthen the quality of doctoral preparation for the next generation of mathematics educators.

Doctoral programs in mathematics education were established more than a century ago in the United States. From 2010-2014 over 120 different institutions graduated at least one doctorate in mathematics education. There has been limited research reported on the nature of doctoral programs in mathematics education and/or their doctoral graduates. This paper provides a synthesis of research findings related to doctoral preparation in mathematics education that is accompanied by a reflection on the findings and suggestions for future research. The intent of our paper is to provide a rallying call for more widespread and coordinated research on doctoral programs in mathematics education in order to strengthen the quality of doctoral preparation for the next generation of mathematics educators.

Student knowledge assessment is a key element of the pedagogical process, as it provides students, parents, and educators with important feedback information on students’ knowledge and skills. Assessment of students’ mathematical knowledge is complex, as several factors are normally included in students’ final grade, and simply calculating the average of students’ achievements may not provide a complete picture of their knowledge. Therefore, in this paper, we aimed to investigate the possibility of using fuzzy logic to assess students’ knowledge and competencies by considering (1) students’ overall academic performance, (2) the quality of students’ project work on a topic from the history of mathematics and (3) the regularity of handing in homework. The study was conducted considering 22 Italian high school students. The results show that students’ academic performance is similar to student grades obtained with fuzzy logic.

The importance of preparing primary educators capable of successfully teaching mathematics has been extensively emphasized in educational research. However, it is widely acknowledged that pre-service teachers in primary education start their career with poor attitudes and a great degree of anxiety towards mathematics. As such, primary education has been under severe criticism for not being able to provide their pre-service teachers with an adequate set of skills and attitudes towards mathematics. This paper discusses several cases and searches for possible explanations that are perpetuating this state. As well, this theoretical paper gives some recommendations for decreasing mathematics anxiety and improving mathematical knowledge for pre-service teachers in primary education.

The paper contains an analysis of the differences of number of points in the test in mathematics between test variants, which were used in the entrance examinations at the Faculty of Business Administration at University of Economics in Prague in 2015. The differences may arise due to the varying difficulty of variants for students, but also because of the different level of knowledge of students who write these variants. This problem we shall study in present paper. The aim of this paper is to study dependence of the results of entrance examinations in mathematics on test variants. The results obtained will be used for further improvement of the admission process at University of Economics.

Scientific calculators are sometimes regarded as important only for obtaining numerical answers to computational questions, and thus in some countries regarded as inappropriate for school mathematics, lest they might undermine the school curriculum. This paper argues a contrary view that, firstly, numerical computation is not the principal purpose of scientific calculators in education, and secondly that calculators can play a valuable role in supporting students’ learning. Recent developments of calculators are outlined, noting that their principal intention has been to make calculators easier to use, align their functionality with the school mathematics curriculum and represent mathematical expressions in conventional ways. A model for the educational use of calculators is described, with four key components:representation, computation, exploration and affirmation. Examples of how these might impact positively on school mathematics are presented, and suggestions are made regarding good pedagogy and curriculum with calculators in mind. The paper concludes that scientific calculators represent the best available technology to provide widespread access to some ICT in the mathematics curriculum for all students in the SEAMEO region.

The fast pace of development of ICT often results in primary teachers being expected to integrate new technologies effectively prior to the emergence of research findings that provide exemplars of best practice. This discussion paper explores contemporary research into ICT and primary school mathematics, and the issues that arise in relation to mobile technologies such as computer tablets in primary school classrooms. Although studies are beginning to emerge, this paper presents the argument that further research that would assist teachers in being prepared to teach mathematics with any technological tool would be more beneficial than working retrospectively to explore the use of specific devices that have already emerged in primary classrooms.

After a long six-year lapse, the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement introduced in 2012 included geometry as part of the South African Grade 12 Mathematics Paper 2. The first cohort of matriculation students wrote Paper 2 in 2014. This article reports on the understanding of geometry terminology with which a group of 154 first-year mathematics education students entered a rural South African university in 2015; 126 volunteered to be part of the study. Responses to a 60-item multiple-choice questionnaire (30 verbally presented and 30 visually presented items) in geometry terminology provided the data for the study. A concept’s verbal description should be associated with its correct visual image. Van Hiele theory provided the lens for the study. An overall percentage mean score of 64% obtained in the test indicated that the majority of the students had a fairly good knowledge of basic geometry terminology. The students obtained a percentage mean score of 68% on visually presented items against that of 59% on verbally presented items implying a lower level thinking as per Van Hiele theory. The findings of this study imply a combination approach using visual and verbal representations to enhance conceptual understanding in geometry. This has to be complemented and supplemented through scaffolding to fill student teachers’ content gap.

This paper describes an emerging approach to the design of task sequences and the theory that undergirds it. The approach aims at promoting particular mathematical concepts, understood as the result of reflective abstraction. Central to this approach is the identification of available student activities from which students can abstract the intended ideas. The approach differs from approaches in which learning to solve the problem posed is the intended learning. The paper illustrates the approach through data from a teaching experiment on division of fractions.

This paper is part of a wider study focused on divisibility. Participants were prospective elementary teachers. One of the aims of the research is to characterize the meanings of multiple shown by prospective teachers. In this paper, we present the results concerning this aim. We analyse the productions of 37 prospective elementary teachers collected in a practice session, designed and developed in the context of a teaching experiment. We characterize the meanings through the following elements of the didactic analysis: conceptual structure, representation systems and phenomenology. Prospective teachers showed mostly three meanings of multiple: product, relationship and dividend in an exact division.

With the rapid development of ICT and its ramification in our world, especially education, can we envision how education will look like in the future, especially in Indonesia, and in the teaching and learning of mathematics? Employing Zappa’s Envisioning the Future of Educational Technology (2013) and NMC Horizon Report (2014) K-12 Edition, this paper will reflect on the effort of ICT integration in teaching and learning, especially in the teaching and learning of mathematics, in Indonesia. Taking stock of the existing Government’s policy on ICT and ICT in Education, also of the facts and figures of Indonesia’s ICT profile, this paper discusses initiatives, practices, and studies of ICT in Education, integration of ICT in the teaching and learning of mathematics, what technology and how to integrate in the teaching and learning of mathematics, and some future prediction on the evolution of teaching and learning due to emerging technologies.

In this paper, we will present a case study of the possibility of using an applet in the teaching and learning of area measurement. The researcher investigated how an applet can support students’ understanding of the concept of conservation of area. Data were collected through video registration, students’ work and interviews. Students were involved in six meetings around the learning of area measurement. In some meetings, students worked on hands-on activities. For instance, through cut and paste activities, students would acquire the concept of conservation of area. They witnessed that if there is no part thrown away when cutting and pasting a figure, the area will not change. However, when it comes to reshaping a figure into another one (rectangle), students would use trial and error. Some students would face difficulties reshaping the figures into a rectangle. They could not undo their cutting when they failed in making a rectangle. To some extent, hands-on activities will constrain students. The use of an applet which provides the same activities will help students to be more creative in reshaping a figure. The school has no internet facilities to access the applet. To see the possibilities of an applet to support students understanding, after some weeks, we invited students to play with the applet. We recorded students’ activities in working with the applet. Students were enthusiastic to try when they could not solve the problems. After the session with the applet, students worked on similar problems on paper. They successfully dealt with the problems. It reveals that students prefer to use the applet because they can easily try again when they fail. It shows that students could understand how to measure areas of irregular figures.

This paper explores the viability and development of the first edition of the researcher’s mathematical card game, Groups, as a learning tool for elementary group theory, a topic in abstract algebra. Groups was play-tested by six undergraduate students in late 2016 who provided feedback on Groups from both utility-centric and design-centric perspectives. This paper addresses how well undergraduates with no prior group theory experience understand the fundamentals of group theory after playing several games of Groups, and how well undergraduates with prior knowledge of group theory related the Groups game play and mechanics to the fundamentals of group theory. Based on interview and questionnaire data, players found Groups to be an engaging and effective learning tool with both strengths and weaknesses in the tested iteration.

This paper explores the viability and development of the first edition of the researcher’s mathematical card game, Groups, as a learning tool for elementary group theory, a topic in abstract algebra. Groups was play-tested by six undergraduate students in late 2016 who provided feedback on Groups from both utility-centric and design-centric perspectives. This paper addresses how well undergraduates with no prior group theory experience understand the fundamentals of group theory after playing several games of Groups, and how well undergraduates with prior knowledge of group theory related the Groups game play and mechanics to the fundamentals of group theory. Based on interview and questionnaire data, players found Groups to be an engaging and effective learning tool with both strengths and weaknesses in the tested iteration.

This article presents an exploratory study to find out whether high-ability secondary school students in Singapore were able to deal with open mathematical investigative tasks. A class of Secondary One (or Grade 7) students, who had no prior experience with this kind of investigation, were given a paper-and-pencil test consisting of four open tasks. The results show that these students did not even know how to begin, despite sample questions being given in the first two tasks to guide and help them pose their own problems. The main difficulty was the inability to understand the task requirement: what does it mean to investigate? Another issue was the difference between searching for any patterns without a specific problem to solve, and searching for patterns to solve a given problem. The implications of these findings on teaching and on research methodologies that rely on paper-and-pencil test instruments will also be discussed.

Mathematics is not only for educating functional members of society and producing a competent workforce but also for instilling social values and responsible citizenship. STEM is a potential learning approach to teaching social justice because it encourages students to integrate knowledge and skills from different subjects to solve real-life problems. This paper reports the first phase of design research to develop a STEM activity incorporating social justice issues for 8th-grade mathematics classrooms. The result of the first phase is a set of learning materials that integrates the subject content gradient in mathematics and simple machine in science in the context of designing an effective and efficient ramp for public use. The study confirmed that by designing in such a way that mathematics and science knowledge and skills are used in solving problems, social justice issues could be meaningful contexts for STEM lessons.

This paper demonstrates a teacher-as-researcher intervention study by utilizing GeoGebra™ activities in the teaching and learning of arithmetical operations with integers. The researcher evaluated how the applet can elevate students understanding of the concepts of arithmetic integer operations. The data was collected through recordings of students’ worksheets and communications in a virtual classroom. The teacher monitored students’ progress and provided immediate suggestions and assistance via several methods. As a result, students could communicate and interact with each other and the teacher through the applet. Students were working on online activities as it happened during the COVID-19 pandemic period. A joyful and meaningful context was implemented in the lessons. The results were tremendously significant and hopefully will inspire readers and teachers.

Globally, there is considerable investment in education technologies leading to increased attention from stakeholders (Trucano, 2017). For a deeper understanding about the implementation of various technologies, research is needed to examine how teachers are incorporating them in teaching and learning. This study focused on eight countries to examine how teachers used ICT in mathematics instruction and factors that contributed to ICT use. Results show that teachers’ education levels and cooperation amongst educators are associated with ICT use in instruction. The paper includes recommendations and implications for practice and future research.

This paper determined the supplementary materials in ninth-grade mathematics which may be enhanced to integrate growth mindset principles to improve students’ procedural fluency and foster their growth mindset in mathematics. This study employed a descriptive-developmental method by administering a quasi-experimental design and mixed-method research approach to determine the research questions. The respondents in this study were the 60 ninth-grade students at a state secondary high school in the Philippines. The study implemented the validated researcher-made procedural fluency test and growth mindset questionnaire in determining students’ performance in procedural fluency and mindset in mathematics, respectively. Thematic analysis was employed to investigate students’ responses in Focus Group Discussions (FGD), informal interviews and learning journals in scrutinising the learning experiences and mindsets of the students. Findings displayed that the supplementary materials which can be developed in incorporating growth mindset principles were motivational activities, reflection activities, and instructional videos. Utilising the developed supplementary materials elevates students’ procedural fluency. It influences students to shift from fixed mindsets to growth mindsets in mathematics by providing them with significant learning experiences that help students enhance a growth mindset. Furthermore, the implementation group performed better than the comparison group, particularly with developing growth mindsets. The study results are limited to the participants encompassing; similar research employing the developed supplementary materials to other learning areas with a larger sample is recommended for more generalisable results.

Engineering technology students often forgo a methodical approach of solving or answering questions on assignments or exams in favor of an intuition-based approach, emphasizing educated guessing (Broberg et al., 2008). Faculty observations have noted these student solutions often provide explanations, usually sans calculations, to support answers the students believe to be reasonable when in reality deviated from the correct answer. An extensive study was developed to assess several distinctions between student intuition and use of cognition in problem solving, as related to a generalized student population. The study was comprised of a survey and interview. The survey utilized two instruments, the Types of Intuition Scale (TIntS) and the Cognitive-Experiential Self Theory (CEST). The interview element was comprised of questions related to the student’s background and personal experience with math phobia. Data provided by study participants responding to specific questions from the TIntS and CEST instruments allowed researchers to determine how likely students are to use intuition rather than analytical processes. The results of the study found these students prefer to approach problems using logic but tend to rely upon their intuition when problem solving, especially in unfamiliar and high-pressure scenarios. Furthermore, this paper is intended to enlighten educators and other related groups regarding the degree to which intuition is used as a means of solving problems, and the types of intuition generally involved, especially for engineering technology students. Thus, providing practitioners and administrators with a better idea of what these students may provide in response to homework or other problem-solving situations.

In this paper, I argue that international Mathematics Education Research (MER) is dictated by the interests and agenda of the imperialist countries, which dehistoricizes the material conditions of imperialized and impoverished nations while deliberately obfuscating the economic reasons underlying the “failure” of mathematics learning outcomes of their students. Instead, in the guise of improving mathematics teaching/learning, such researches usually blame the very people of these imperialized countries for the ‘low learning outcomes’ of their school students, attributing it to “cultural” and “local” beliefs, mindsets, practices, etc., thereby producing academic justifications for the neoliberal destruction of their public education systems. I begin my argument by drawing from my PhD research study with visually challenged mathematics learners from socio-economically marginalized communities in India. I then follow it up with a brief overview of some mathematics education research works in the context of Sub-Saharan African countries to illustrate my point.

In this paper, I argue that international Mathematics Education Research (MER) is dictated by the interests and agenda of the imperialist countries, which dehistoricizes the material conditions of imperialized and impoverished nations while deliberately obfuscating the economic reasons underlying the “failure” of mathematics learning outcomes of their students. Instead, in the guise of improving mathematics teaching/learning, such researches usually blame the very people of these imperialized countries for the ‘low learning outcomes’ of their school students, attributing it to “cultural” and “local” beliefs, mindsets, practices, etc., thereby producing academic justifications for the neoliberal destruction of their public education systems. I begin my argument by drawing from my PhD research study with visually challenged mathematics learners from socio-economically marginalized communities in India. I then follow it up with a brief overview of some mathematics education research works in the context of Sub-Saharan African countries to illustrate my point.

In the Western developed world, the language of 21st century competencies, also referred to as 21st century skills or competences, is a powerful means of drawing attention to links between the secondary school curriculum, post-secondary education, and the social and economic imperatives of the developed economies. This paper will analyze different levels and breadth of meaning which serve to define 21st century competencies and skills. In particular, the paper looks at how these transformative expressions have characterized the most recent revision of China’s curriculum standards for mathematics in the years of basic education.

With rising personal and public debt, public and private employers increasingly shifting financial responsibility to individuals, and an increase in both the number of financial investment options and predatory lending practices, today’s students need to be financially literate.This paper defines financial literacy and justifies its place in the mathematics curriculum. After describing the gaps in young people’s understanding of financial literacy, which is more pronounced among women and minorities, this paper provides examples of financial literacy exercises. College students’ solutions demonstrated that the level of financial literacy is low. The majority of students were unfamiliar with financial principles and concepts. Students found it difficult to estimate answers and judge the reasonableness of their solutions. Reading comprehension and general cognitive skills led students to incorrect answers. The difficulties students had reinforce the need for financial education and developing students’ general cognitive skills.

With rising personal and public debt, public and private employers increasingly shifting financial responsibility to individuals, and an increase in both the number of financial investment options and predatory lending practices, today’s students need to be financially literate.This paper defines financial literacy and justifies its place in the mathematics curriculum. After describing the gaps in young people’s understanding of financial literacy, which is more pronounced among women and minorities, this paper provides examples of financial literacy exercises. College students’ solutions demonstrated that the level of financial literacy is low. The majority of students were unfamiliar with financial principles and concepts. Students found it difficult to estimate answers and judge the reasonableness of their solutions. Reading comprehension and general cognitive skills led students to incorrect answers. The difficulties students had reinforce the need for financial education and developing students’ general cognitive skills.

In the Western developed world, the language of 21st century competencies, also referred to as 21st century skills or competences, is a powerful means of drawing attention to links between the secondary school curriculum, post-secondary education, and the social and economic imperatives of the developed economies. This paper will analyze different levels and breadth of meaning which serve to define 21st century competencies and skills. In particular, the paper looks at how these transformative expressions have characterized the most recent revision of China’s curriculum standards for mathematics in the years of basic education.

Discussions about teaching area measurement in primary school have been ongoing over some decades. However, investigations that thoroughly examine the current research on conceptual understanding in area measuring in elementary schools are still lacking. The objective of this paper is to review whether conceptual knowledge in area measurement may support students to obtain better results in primary schools. This study is to gain insight into how conceptual knowledge in area measurement has been portrayed for primary school students, and reveal possible omissions and gaps in the synthesized literature on the subject. To gather information, two databases were used: Scopus and Web of Science. Primary searches pulled up many studies on the subject of investigation. After analyzing abstracts and eliminating duplicates, our systematic review indicates that there seems a direct link between conceptual understanding and area measurement in primary school mathematics. Hence, teaching children the principle of area measurement rather than a procedure for solving problems seems to be the most effective way of improving problem-solving skills and conceptual understanding for primary students.

Numerous experimental studies have shown the advantages of using educational software in teaching mathematics. One of the dynamic educational software that has recently gained great popularity in teaching mathematics is GeoGebra. The geometric transformations and dynamic functions of the software can be effectively applied at various education levels, from elementary school to university level. The aim of this paper is to present, through selected examples, some possibilities of GeoGebra software that can help students in lower grades of elementary school become proficient in the concept of the perimeter of a figure in a plane (rectangle, square and triangle), thus allowing them to follow each step in the pattern formation for calculating the perimeter.

It is widely believed that math classes in primary school belong into the category of least favorite classes. Entire teams of psychologists, educators and mathematicians have studied the student aversion (and, to a certain extent, parent antipathy) to math classes, but they have also studied methods and ways to overcome this problem. They have tried to find a way to improve students’ activities, to make them more engaged in classes, and to increase their motivation. One of the opinions is that the student success requires their strong will, persistence, diligence and perseverance. Certainly, the competence, motivation and consistency of teachers, wholead them to the world of knowledge, have a great influence. One of the methods of achieving a positive influence of teachers, in the domain of increasing interest in mathematics and reducing aversion to it, is the use of interesting mathematical problems, in which the numerical value of the current calendar year or even the current date appears. The aim of this paper is to point out how the motivation of primary school students to adopt mathematical content can be increased. With concrete examples of interesting algebra problems, which tickle students’ fancy and make them think, we show how some lessons can be learned.

This paper determined the effects of implementing the Prepare, Perform, Process, Ponder, and Practice (5Ps) learning model in teaching ninth-grade students’ growth mindset in mathematics. This study employed the quasi-experimental design and mixed-method research approach to answer the research questions with 60 ninth-grade students at a public secondary high school in the Philippines. The study administered a growth mindset questionnaire, informal interviews, learning journals, and Focus Group Discussions (FGD) on identifying learning experiences and mindsets of the students. Findings presented that employing the 5Ps learning model significantly influences students' mindset in mathematics. Meanwhile, traditional teaching does not significantly affect students' mindset in mathematics. The implementation of the 5Ps learning model has a significant positive effect on students' growth mindset in mathematics. The results of the study are limited merely to the participants included in the study; similar research utilizing the 5Ps learning model to other learning areas with a larger sample is recommended for more generalizable results.

This paper examines Grade 6 students’ thinking about geometrical solids and their properties in the context of a computer-based task. The main focus is to explore how students interact with a number of tasks based on the dynamic transformation of computer-based representations of 3D solids in a geometry classroom with the aid of a Dynamic Geometric Environment. The analysis of two teaching experiments suggests that the dynamic transformations of geometrical solids encourage the students to investigate relationships between the solids and their properties and their 2D representations. Through the tasks, students realize the existence of non-trivial conventions in 2D representations and become aware that angles and edge dimensions may be distorted. The study provides insight into student learning around geometric solids and their properties, and consequently an opportunity to enhance the teaching of 3D geometry.

Background: The presence of African women in mathematics has been nearly invisible. The underrepresentation of African women in this field is a result of their historical socio-political marginalisation. The mathematics discipline is politicised, racialised, and gendered to systematically oppress African women. The mathematics fields continue to be a masculine and white male dominated field, which reinforces and preserves masculine culture which is hostile and unwelcoming to women. African women mathematicians are further oppressed because of their racial and gendered identities in fields that are ideologically founded on proving the racial, gendered, social, cultural, and intellectual inferiority of Africans. Aim: The article aims to exemplify the lived experiences of African women doctoral students in the mathematics disciplines in South African universities. The article critically interrogates the factors that influence the participation, progression, and retention of African female doctoral students in the mathematics disciplines. Setting: The article comes from a larger study which investigated the reasons why African doctorate students do not become academics after they receive their doctorates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines in South African universities. This paper focuses on the experiences of 10 African female doctoral students at five universities in South Africa. The universities were selected because they ranked in the top five in South Africa. Two of the institutions are historically Black universities and the rest are historically white institutions, with one historically Afrikaner-speaking university—between 2019–2021. Methods: This article employed a qualitative research methodology, where semi-structures interviews were conducted with 10 African female doctoral participants in mathematics disciplines in five South African universities and is underpinned by the theory of intersectionality. Results: The findings reveal how interlocking systems of oppression continue to influence the recruitment, retention, and progression of women in the mathematics discipline, thereby providing insight into the mechanisms that need to be altered and/or put in place to actively recruit African female doctoral students and retain them in academic positions. Conclusion: The article concludes that despite the mathematics field proclaiming neutrality and objectivity nevertheless, African women still experience racism, sexism, and classism. The experiences of African women in mathematics are vital to understanding the reasons why there is a high attrition rate of African women in the mathematics discipline in academia and why they do not become academics when they could transform this discipline.

Mathematical identity is a socio-motivational construct known to be a predictor of mathematical achievement. Students who identify positively with mathematics are more likely to pursue advanced courses and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-related occupations. Although mathematical identity is shaped by a myriad of internal and external factors on both a small and large scale, educators play a significant role in the formation of their students’ mathematical identities. This paper presents an overview of research regarding those pedagogical practices for teaching mathematics that can foster the formation of positive mathematical identities.

In the process of representations’ forming, schematizations, nuances, simplifications are involved along with the perceptual syntheses and also a series of regroupings of the features of the person or the object evoked. The contribution of the study is highlighted in the theoretical basis of the term representation in the field of psychology and mathematics teaching. The purpose of this paper was to investigate teachers’ opinions on the process of mathematical representations’ forming. Respondents are primary school teachers who have voluntarily agreed to take part in the survey. The research tool is a questionnaire created through Google Forms and applied online. The obtained results highlight the positive vision of the respondents on the interdisciplinary approach in the formation of mathematical representations.

This paper reports a quasi-experimental study with one group pre-test post-test design on promoting mathematical literacy using guided inquiry method. As one of the important education goals globally, mathematical literacy focuses on a concrete dimension with context and content to be studied. A total of 32 secondary school students of class VIII participated as a sample and 192 students as a population in the study. Students' mathematical literacy was measured by using an essay test. The students' responses were analysed and compared using paired sample t-Test. It was found that the guided inquiry method successfully promotes students' mathematical literacy as indicated by the result of paired sample t-test values of significance (2-tailed) of 0.000 < 0.05. Thus, the guided inquiry can be used as an alternative learning method to improve students' mathematical literacy.

This article aims to analyze the evaluations made by the teachers of the participation of elementary school teachers in the research project entitled “Professional Development of Teachers who Teach Mathematics” (Project D-Estat), in the year of 2018. The Project aims to investigate the statistical learning experiences of teachers who teach mathematics in elementary school, within the scope of a collaborative group, aiming at professional development during the training process. The research uses qualitative methodology in an action research perspective. The paper presents theoretical reflections on professional development and teacher education, considerations on Teaching Sequence and Investigative Cycle. As a methodological resource, the narrative interview was used, in the format of a conversation circle. The analysis of the results gives evidence of a path taken by the teachers towards professional development and a better understanding of how to work the statistical thinking of their students. The teachers' oral and written narratives demonstrate the importance of participation in training processes for professional development.

In this article, our objective was to identify and analyze what and how the texts of the Mathematical Modeling discourse can be developed in the pedagogical practice and its implications in the formation of teachers. To this end, we selected scientific papers from the last three editions of two events in the country, the National Conference on Modeling in Mathematics Education and the International Research Seminar in Mathematics Education, which specifically bring together the entire community that researches on Mathematical Modeling. The research has a qualitative approach, inspired by Basil Bernstein's model of description language. From the analyzed texts, we observed that there are different possibilities to develop modeling activities and these different possibilities have different approaches: focus on content, focus on technology, focus on ethnomodelling, which allows the teacher to create different opportunities for learning students.