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Planning a mathematics lesson plan is a complex process. Its quality contributes to the effectiveness of mathematics instruction. Given this significance, improving prospective mathematics teachers' lesson planning ability is essential for teacher preparation programs to produce effective teachers. This study examines how a lesson study within a school-university partnership program (SUPER-LS) could strengthen the lesson planning skills of prospective mathematics teachers. This study employed a case study, which included thirteen student teachers. Data were collected using four initial and four final drafts of mathematics lesson plans developed by four groups of prospective mathematics teachers and reflection reports. These were then analyzed qualitatively using the framework of MKT. The study found that sixteen categories of issues were present in the initial lesson plan, and six remained in the final lesson plan. In the final lesson plan, the 16 problems were reduced to 6, with an improvement of around 62.50%. In addition, prospective mathematics teachers improved their lesson planning skills because of their involvement in the SUPER-LS program, facilitated by intensive collaboration and interaction among participants, especially in-service teachers, and teacher educators, as well as peers' feedback.

The integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in various fields of knowledge is needed to enhance the country's economic development. STEM education is essential in developing technology towards the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) era. However, in many countries, especially in Indonesia, students are less interested in STEM subjects. This study aims to identify the differences and interactions of student interest in STEM based on parental education and gender. This study uses a quantitative method involving 150 secondary school students at Simanosor Julu, Medan, Indonesia. The results of data analysis based on the mean score indicated that there are differences in students' interest in STEM-based on gender and parental education. The mean score of male students, based on parental education at the university level, is higher than female students. It is recommended that there are additional study more deeply the STEM interests of students based on (a) social-economic status, (b) rural and urban schools, (c) the relationship between the two variables, and (d) involves students with more numbers.

An effective professional program can enhance the integrated knowledge and skills of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) among mathematics teachers. Nevertheless, the strategies for STEM integration in teaching and learning taught in many professional programs have proven impractical for many teachers. Thus, a systematic literature review is presented to investigate the characteristics of successfully implemented professional programs for STEM education for mathematics teachers. Twenty research articles published from 2017 to 2021 were obtained from the Scopus and Web of Science databases. The results show that of six interdisciplinary concepts, the integration of mathematics and science content was the one most employed in professional programs. In addition, the workshop design type was found to be popular for STEM professional programs, and it impacted teachers' teaching practices in the classroom, student learning outcomes, and knowledge and skills. The results suggest that the self-efficacy of mathematics teachers and their commitment to the programs were significant factors contributing to the effectiveness of the programs. When planning STEM professional development programs, organizers need to think about the needs of teachers and students, the length of the programs, practical activities, STEM concepts, follow-up actions, and so on in order to meet the goals of these programs.

Preparing students with knowledge and expertise in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is vital in meeting the demand for digital age career opportunities. Nevertheless, there is sparse research on teachers' views of student preparedness and teachers' knowledge of STEM in classroom instruction. The present study examines secondary school teachers' perceptions of STEM pedagogical content knowledge (STEMPCK). An online survey was administered to 66 Malaysian secondary school teachers through Google Forms to determine their perspectives of STEMPCK. Data were collected and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 20.0. The descriptive analysis showed that the selected teachers highly agreed on the pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of 21st century skill components of STEMPCK. However, the non-parametric analysis showed no significant mean differences in STEMPCK scores based on gender, educational qualification, and teaching experience. The study's implications suggest that teachers in these fields should be equipped with the necessary knowledge to be more confident in implementing STEM teaching in their respective schools.

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education is regarded as one of the formulas to embracing many of our imminent challenges. STEM education benefits the learners by encouraging interest in STEM disciplines. This daunting task needs everyone's concerted efforts in creating and innovating mathematics teachers' classroom practices Therefore, a systematic review was conducted to identify best practices for STEM education following the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) by Moher et al. (2015). The reviewed articles were published from 2016 to 2020 and accessed using the Scopus and Web of Science (WoS) databases. Three themes for best practices were identified namely (a) core competencies encompassing 21st-century teaching skills; (b) instructional designs; and (c) requisite STEM execution. Results of PRISMA determined the dominant STEM practices were critical thinking, communication, collaboration, problem-solving, research-based pedagogy, problem-based learning and project-based learning, technological integration, accessibility, professional development and learning support, evidence of effectiveness, access to materials and practitioner support, and scalability. Mathematics teachers should determine the best STEM practices to employ even though there is a lack of studies on integrated STEM domains. When more students are interested in venturing and exploring into the field of STEM, the high demand for STEM related careers could be met by the younger generation.

This study conducted to determine the mathematics teacher's self-efficacy of technology integration and Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) based on gender and teaching experience. In this research, 66 mathematics teachers from national secondary schools were chosen as the samples to answer a survey questionnaire containing 71 items with a five-point Likert scale. Descriptive statistics, such as mean, percentage, and standard deviation, were employed to analyze the data. T-test was used to gauge the mathematics teacher's self-efficacy of technology integration and TPACK based on gender, and one-way ANOVA was employed to determine mathematics teacher's self-efficacy of technology integration and TPACK based on teaching experience. Besides, Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between the mathematics teacher's self-efficacy of technology integration and TPACK. The findings showed no significant difference between genders and the teaching experience of the mathematics teacher's self-efficacy and TPACK. However, mathematics teacher's self-efficacy of technology integration and TPACK were strongly associated. In conclusion, whether male or female, for as long as mathematics teachers had been working, they have a positive self-efficacy in initiating technology integration and introducing TPACK. The implication was gender and teaching experience were not a critical factor for mathematics teacher's self-efficacy of technology integration and TPACK. For future research related to this study, it could introduce other factors, such as academic qualification and technology courses they had attended.

Mathematics is one of the most challenging subjects for many students. A similar problem is faced by special needs students, such as students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Various instructional strategies are implemented by specialists to help ASD students understand mathematics in schools. To explore the impacts of an instructional strategy of mathematics on ASD students, the authors conducted a review of literature from 2011 to 2017 using various databases including ProQuest Digital Dissertations and Theses Full Text, Google Scholar, and Science Direct. A total of 39 articles were found. Most of the instructional strategy aimed to assist ASD students in solving mathematics problems. The implications of the study are also discussed in this literature review, which indicates that teachers need to use the appropriate instructional strategy to meet the needs of students with ASD and maximize their mathematics learning outcomes in schools.

Previous research has shown knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes are essential factors during mathematics classroom instruction. The current study examined the effects of a 3-week fraction instructional unit using concrete models, problem-solving, and problem-posing to improve elementary preservice teachers' knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards fractions. A quasi-experiment design was implemented to gather data via closed-ended, open-ended, and essay tasks from a convenience sampling of 71 female elementary preservice teachers during pre- and post-assessments. The study discovered that the select preservice teachers were weak in the content knowledge specifically on unit-whole, part-whole, equivalent area, arithmetic operations, and ordering fractional values. In contrast, the incorporation of concrete models, problem-solving and problemposing was effective in improving the preservice teachers' level of pedagogical content knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards fractions. Implications of the results and suggestions are discussed.

The positive impact of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programs on student achievement, attitude, interest, communication skills and problem-solving has alerted the education community to reform instructional approaches in STEM subjects. This meta-analysis study aims to analyze previous studies' results of STEM program impacting students' mathematics achievement. The criteria for inclusion of literature in the meta-analysis were: published between 1998 and 2017, employed experimental research design, and reported data necessary for computing effect sizes. Based on the Hedges-g effect size values, three of the studies were categorized into the large effect category (n=3), two studies were classified under the medium effect group (n=2), and twelve studies were considered to be small effect sizes (n=12). The overall weighted average effect size was 0.242 with a corresponding p-value of 0.023 demonstrating that STEM had an impact on student mathematics achievement. However, no evidence was found concerning the impact of STEM program on students' mathematics achievement based on the three moderator variables: education level, publication source, and length of intervention. Limitations and implications of the study were discussed.

Validity and reliability are crucial when conducting research to ensure the truthfulness of an instrument. This study investigated the measurement functioning of an instrument on students' awareness of space science. The instrument was administered to 206 secondary school students involved in the Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance p outreach program. Two experts evaluated the content validity of the instrument. Data were analyzed using the Winsteps 3.71.0.1 software to obtain the Rasch model analysis (RMA) on item reliability and persons' separation, item measure, item fit based on PTMEA CORR, polarity items, misfit items, unidimensionality, and a person-item map. The findings revealed that the items are valid, reliable, and appropriate to measure awareness of space science.

The purpose of the study was to meta-synthesize research findings on the effectiveness of problem posing and to investigate the factors that might affect the incorporation of problem posing in the teaching and learning of mathematics. The eligibility criteria for inclusion of literature in the meta-analysis was: published between 1989 and 2011, reported problem posing as an intervention, employed experimental research design, and provided data necessary to compute effect sizes. The large positive effect sizes (Hedges' g) showed that problem posing activities provide considerable benefits for: mathematics achievement, problem solving skills, levels of problems posed, and attitudes toward mathematics. Several noteworthy "limitations" of this "study" were discussed.

The purpose of this study was to explore and to understand the daily life experiences of 8 women doctoral students who were in pursuit of their doctorates. A partially mixed concurrent dominant status design was utilized in this study embedded within a mixed methods phenomenological research lens and driven by a critical dialectical pluralistic philosophical stance. Specifically, these 8 students were interviewed individually to examine their lived experiences as doctoral students. The interview responses then were subjected to a sequential mixed analysis that was characterized by 2 qualitative analyses (i.e., constant comparison analysis, classical content analysis) and 1 quantitative analysis (i.e., correspondence analysis). The 2 qualitative analyses revealed the following 3 metathemes: adjustment (how these doctoral students made necessary accommodations with regard to all aspects of their lives), which comprised the themes of time management, interaction, belief, and lifestyle; encouragement (circumstances that motivated them to pursue their doctoral degrees), which comprised the themes of intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation; and discouragement (circumstances that demotivated them from pursuing their doctoral degrees), which comprised the themes of internal discouragement and external discouragement. The correspondence analysis revealed a fourth metatheme, namely, marital status (separating the single students from the married/divorced students), which comprised the themes of locus of motivation and locus of discouragement. Seven of these women doctoral students struggled to balance either dual roles (i.e., as doctoral students and wives/mothers, or as doctoral students and professionals) or triple roles (i.e., as doctoral students, wives/mothers, and professionals). Implications of the findings are discussed.

In the 21st century, statistical thinking has become necessary for all citizens as this skill is vital for societal literacy. Students with statistical thinking will grasp and apply the problem's context to develop research and draw conclusions, as well as the coherence of the whole process from asking questions to collecting data, evaluating, and testing hypotheses. Although statistical thinking is increasingly in demand in various emerging vocations, students and teachers find statistics challenging to understand. Thus, the study examines the level of statistical thinking of the process of describing data, organizing and reducing data, representing data, and analyzing and interpreting data among high school students based on gender. The statistical thinking test modification of the framework validation test, code, and subprocess reference was used to collect research data from 35 grade 10 students. The research data were statistically analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences version 23 software through descriptive and inferential statistics, specifically an independent t-test analysis. The findings revealed that none of the students achieved an analytical level of understanding; instead, their general statistical thinking skills were at the transitional level, followed by the idiosyncratic and quantitative levels. The findings also demonstrated no statistically significant gender-related disparities in students' statistical thinking. The study proposes several recommendations, including the necessity of connecting statistical activities to the reality of students' life and area of study and emphasizing practical rather than theoretical aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a review of the "KeyMath-3 Diagnostic Assessment" (KeyMath-3 DA), a norm-referenced individually administered diagnostic test. This review focuses only on the KeyMath-3 DA Form-A starter kit, which includes a manual, two easels, and record forms. The KeyMath-3 DA is an updated mathematics diagnostic test with the content aligned to the current national mathematics curriculum and standards. The test provides teachers with reliable and valid information on examinees' learning performance in specific and general content areas, operations, and application of mathematics. The kits are user friendly for both examinees and examiners. However, the test is easy to administer only if the examiner gets proper training on the administration procedures and with the technical part of the kits. Significantly, as mathematics involves multiple representations in solving a problem, the standardized procedures may need to account for allowing examinees to scribble their workings on a sheet of paper for all subtests. The test supports modifications for different mathematics ability levels but it does not emphasize the use of interdisciplinary skills (e.g., reading, writing). It is not appropriate for students with limited hearing, vision, and English proficiency. Also, the test may not be suitable for students in other countries that have diverse educational and cultural backgrounds in mathematics. More items at upper grade levels (i.e., above Grade 8) should be constructed to cover the mathematics curriculum of the targeted population (i.e., 4 years 6 months to 21 years 11 months). Also, the items should have vertical and horizontal alignment across grade levels. As the United States does not have any standard national curriculum, the revision of items must consider the level of mathematics content in the curriculum of each state. Further, the blueprint for item development must consider all National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) content standards such as reasoning and proof, communication, connections, and representation. These standards were not included in the development of the test. Despite the aforementioned limitations, overall, the KeyMath-3 DA is an appropriate instrument to assess students' general mathematical ability, especially strengths and weaknesses in different mathematics content areas.

Home teaching and learning (PdPR) has challenged the pedagogy of mathematics teachers throughout the spread of COVID-19. The implementation of PdPR requires mathematics teachers to apply technology, pedagogy and content based on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework (TPACK). However, the study of TPACK for mathematics teachers in the context of PdPR is still new and needed. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine mathematics teachers' perceptions related to TPACK during the implementation of PdPR. In addition, this study also aims to identify differences in the perceptions of mathematics teachers related to TPACK during PdPR based on gender and level of schooling taught. This survey study involved a total of 210 respondents, who were selected through a quota sampling from Kulai district, Johor had answered the PTPK questionnaire online. The data obtained were analyzed descriptively and inferentially through independent t tests. The results show that the perception level of mathematics teachers on TPACK is high on content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge while the perception at a moderate level for technological knowledge. The results of the study failed to show that there was a significant difference in the perception of mathematics teachers on the knowledge of mathematics TPACK based on gender or level of schooling taught. Mathematics teachers were found to have not yet reached full competence in terms of technological knowledge. Therefore, support from various parties is needed to help mathematics teachers to deepen their knowledge of the latest technology from time to time for more effective mathematics teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]