South Africa has been battling with the poor performance of learners in Mathematics for a long time, with the Eastern Cape province being the worst-performing province. The Department of Education and other educational stakeholders have embarked on a journey of searching for solutions. Some of these include the use of Information communication…

Possessing mathematical competence is a pre requisite for independently comprehending, understanding and applying all features of mathematical modelling in a particular setting. This research study thus explores the mathematical modelling competencies that Grade 10 learners exhibit while solving contextual problems in a mathematics learning and…

Developing structure sense is an important part of learning algebra. We investigated learners' structure sense of algebraic expressions involving brackets. This led us to propose the constructs "surface structure" sense and "systemic structure" sense. Using a random sample of 58 Grade 10 learners scoring above 40% in a test, we…

This article uses parts of qualitative data from the first author's study that focused on exploring Pirie and Kieren's process of "folding back," revisiting previously held understandings of a concept for its extended understanding in order to solve the problem of enhancing Grade 10 learners' reasoning in geometry. In South Africa,…

Textbook content has the ability to influence mathematical learning. This study compares how linear functions are presented in two textbooks, one of South African and the other of German origin. These two textbooks are used in different language-based streams in a school in Gauteng, South Africa. A qualitative content analysis on how the topic of…

This article focuses on learners' understanding and their descriptions of the concepts of area and perimeter, how learners solve problems involving area and perimeter and the relationship between them and misconceptions, and the causes of these misconceptions as revealed by learners when solving these problems. A written test was administered to…

As part of curriculum changes in South Africa, an introductory programming language, Scratch, must first be taught before switching to the well-established teaching of Delphi. The nature of programming in Scratch is considerably different from that in Delphi. It was assumed that the teaching of Scratch as introductory programming language could…

This paper reports on a pilot study that investigated the effect of implementing a context-based problem solving instruction (CBPSI) to enhance the problem solving performance of high school mathematics learners. Primarily, the pilot study aimed: (1) to evaluate the efficiency of data collection instruments; and, (2) to test the efficacy of CBPSI…

In this study, we investigated the effects of a group approach versus a non-group approach on the mathematics performance of learners. A group approach refers to an arrangement in which learners sit together to discuss and solve mathematics tasks. We studied a convenience sample of low-performing Grade 10 mathematics learners using a…

The research reported in this article formed part of an internationally funded project about the empowerment of Information Technology (IT) teachers in economically deprived rural schools in the North-West and KwaZulu-Natal provinces in South Africa. The current paper focused on the use of self-directed metacognitive (SDM) questioning in a pair…

We report on two case studies in which we investigated mathematics for teaching. We were interested in the mathematical knowledge teachers need to know, and know how to use, in order to teach mathematics well. The two case studies focused on the teaching of probability in Grade 8 and the teaching of functions in Grade 10. We discuss the…

I identify and discuss ways in which different types of connections are described in the South African mathematics National Curriculum Statement and its related documents, particularly at the Further Education and Training (FET) level. I argue that connections are central to the way the discipline of mathematics, its learning outcomes, and…