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Concern that stereotypical perceptions of scientists may influence attitudes towards science and willingness to pursue STEM-related careers has motivated interest in children's perceptions of scientists. This study investigated primary children's drawings of scientists at work based on Chambers' 'Draw-A-Scientist Test' (DAST) and explored the influence of living during the COVID-19 pandemic on perceptions of scientists. One hundred and ninety-four children participated in the study; school closures interrupted the study resulting in fifty-one participating during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stereotypic views of scientists that increased with age were revealed; differences between age groups were statistically significant. Drawings frequently depicted smiling lab-coated males working indoors using chemistry equipment. Boys incorporated significantly more stereotypic views in their drawings than girls. Same-sex preference for drawings of scientists was evident with female scientists drawn only by girls; however, this same sex preference weakened for girls, and they drew more male scientists as they got older. The absence of many traditional stereotypical indicators and presence of positive dispositions towards scientists and their work were welcome findings. There was greater awareness of the work of scientists amongst younger participants and a shift to broader conceptions of this work, both associated with living during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Responding to mathematical problems is a core activity in classrooms. The problems that teachers select determine the mathematical content, processes and nature of mathematical inquiry occurring in classrooms and thereby contribute to the development of mathematical skills and dispositions. Selecting, designing or reformulating mathematical problems is a critical skill, then, for prospective and practising teachers. This study explores the influence of a mathematical letter writing initiative in developing the problem posing skills of 28 prospective primary teachers. We examine the characteristics of mathematical problems designed by prospective teachers, and their understandings of what constitutes a good mathematical problem, prior to and following completion of a 12-week letter writing initiative with 10-11-year-old children. Analysis of the data reveals the benefits of engaging in the initiative as evidenced in improvements in several problem characteristics. There was an increase in the number of multiple approach and multiple solution problems and in the level of cognitive demand of problems posed. The challenge of posing non-traditional problems, alongside the competing demands of building in opportunities for success, may have diminished participants' ability to evaluate and attend to the cognitive demand of problems.

This paper explores Year 3 Irish students' problem-solving strategies when responding to a skyscraper growing pattern problem. Students' strategies reveal their understandings of multiplicative thinking, pattern, and algebraic reasoning. The version of the growing pattern lesson was that a 'teaching through problem solving' approach was taken, where no explicit strategies were modelled by the teacher at the start of the problem-solving process (Hourigan & Leavy 2022). Instead, once the teacher introduced the problem, these Year 3 students solved a range of mini-challenges using their own invented strategies. During the planning phase, the teachers had predicted various ways students may see and understand the characteristics of the growing pattern (Friel & Markworth 2009; Markworth 2012). This paper explores the modifications made to the problem context to promote engagement, the range of approaches adopted by two different classes of Year 3 students in response to the problem challenges, as well as the role of the teacher in guiding students to understand the problem and in orchestrating the sharing of student strategies.

This study explored the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on primary school children's perceptions of scientists. Perceptions of scientists were examined using Chambers, D. (1983. "Stereotypic Images of the Scientist: The Draw-a-Scientist Test." "Science Education" 67 (2): 255-265) 'Draw-A-Scientist Test' (DAST) and involved children (n = 104), from senior infants and fourth class, making drawings of scientists. Half the drawings were created in March 2020 one week before school closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the remainder in November 2020 when schools reopened. Compared to pre-pandemic drawings, images created during the pandemic revealed more informed understandings of scientists and their work and fewer drawings were classed as 'uncategorised'. However, drawings made during the pandemic revealed more stereotypical perceptions of scientists and their work as indicated by the larger number of stereotypical indicators incorporated into drawings. These increases were statistically significant for younger children. A welcome finding was broader conceptions of the nature of a scientists' work, a shift that appeared to be motivated by the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The association or relationship between two variables, also known as covariation, has been identified as one of the fundamental statistical concepts. This article details a statistical investigation that was used to informally introduce Grade 6 students to this concept.

This paper presents insights from classroom practice where mathematical thinking, and in particular statistical literacy, are central to solving a STEM problem. We demonstrate that when an investigation sparks student interest and requires active participation, there are opportunities to experience the functionality of statistics.

The authors describe activities designed to teach the concept of weight to five and six year old children, using the imaginary 'Measureland' and its brand-new ride 'The Zipline Balancer'. They explore how they addressed misconceptions and insights are provided into the evolving measurement understandings of young children.

As part of Lesson Study research within an initial teacher education programme two mathematics teacher educators worked alongside a group of five pre-service elementary teachers to create a motivating and meaningful problem-based lesson. The lesson promoted Year 5 students' understandings of the relationship between area and perimeter. The results showed that problem-based lessons provide a motivating and meaningful content for student learning in mathematics.

We are pleased to bring you this follow-up to Mairéad Hourigan and Aisling Leavy's article [EJ1289314] that was published in issue 1 this year. In this contribution, they demonstrate that embedding mathematics within a rich context and learning sequence assists with the consolidation of student understanding and makes more effective use of teacher planning time.

This article presents an analysis of contextual tasks to support the development of counting in Foundation Year classrooms. The tasks allowed the students to engage in authentic and realistic number experiences on which to build their understandings of early number.

Classroom data modeling involves posing questions, identifying attributes of phenomena, measuring and structuring these attributes, and then composing, revising, and communicating the outcomes. Selecting attributes is a fundamental component of data modeling, and the considerations made when selecting attributes is the focus of this paper. A teaching experiment involving 2 teacher educators and 25 pre-service teachers (PSTs) was carried out with 24 young children (5-6-year-olds) as part of a 4-day data modeling investigation. Although perceptual features of the data influenced initial approaches to attribute selection, considerations of the problem situation influenced a shift from the perceptual and towards consideration of attributes such as taxonomy, habitat, behavior, and diet. Expertise in the data context (animal kingdom) and ability to collaborate and negotiate within groups supported children in their ability to switch attributes, attend to multiple situations presented by the problem, and modify and extend their categorizations of data.

Growing awareness of the importance of education in the early years has led professional organizations and policy makers to consider the effectiveness of mathematics education for young children. Factors such as educational environments, early years curricula and teacher education are some of the many aspects that have been examined. This paper describes the types of mathematical content knowledge that 25 prospective primary teachers developed as they designed, taught and reflected upon early number lessons. This Lesson Study approach involved two mathematics educators and 25 prospective primary teachers designing, teaching and re-teaching five early number lessons in two elementary classrooms with 4-5 year old children. The results suggest that effective teaching of early number concepts draws on mathematical knowledge that is specialized and unique to teachers; in other words Specialized Content Knowledge (SCK). The study found that engaging in Lesson Study promoted mathematics SCK development in two primary ways, notable by: (1) raising awareness of the complex relationships between early number concepts that contribute to developing robust early number understandings and (2) developing expertise in identifying the nature and source of children's mathematical errors. The development of participants' early number SCK is described and recommendations are made for the design of experiences in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) to support teachers in the provision of high quality mathematics experiences to young learners.

This article offers a unique look into the cognitive processes of students with autism spectrum disorder in music classrooms. Concepts include theory of mind, weak central coherence, executive function, joint attention, and social attention. Behavior implications are also examined. Specific examples of support tools for the music classroom are provided.

Working within the context of a contest to find the most beautiful tourist attraction in the world, Year 5 students investigate the most symmetric building from a short-list of three iconic buildings. This involves investigating both line and rotational symmetry in order to make an informed decision about the symmetrical nature of each building.

As part of Japanese Lesson study research focusing on "comparing and describing likelihoods", fifth grade elementary students used real-world data in decision-making. Sporting statistics facilitated opportunities for informal inference, where data were used to make and justify predictions.

We describe how the use of a games environment combined with technology supports upper primary children in engaging with a concept traditionally considered too advanced for the primary classes: "The Law of Large Numbers."

Mairead Hourigan and Aisling Leavy describe a range of teaching and learning activities focusing on the identification and classification of 2-dimensional shapes. The activities described are useful in highlighting students' misconceptions regarding non-traditioanl and non-prototypical shapes.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to identify and define the conditions that facilitate learning in music among students with special needs. Children with special needs met once a week for 10 consecutive weeks and received instruction in primarily music as well as the other arts. The children completed pre- and posttest evaluations that served as measurements of musical ability and growth. A paired-samples "t" test revealed a significant difference between pre- and posttest scores. Additionally, all of the study participants (the children, each child's parent and/or guardian, university students serving as mentors, and professionals who supervised the program) completed semistructured interviews in order to determine the conditions that may have led to the children's musical growth. Qualitative results corroborated the quantitative results and indicated that repetition, student choice, and increased response time were considered important teaching strategies that led to student growth and learning. Likewise, having in place clear directions and expectations, a behavior plan, and fostering a positive atmosphere that was free of distractions were identified by the participants as important conditions that must be met for learning to take place. A model for including children with special needs in public school music programs is discussed. (Contains 4 tables.)