Young children often explore partitioning as the idea of fair sharing in contexts where equal parts are created and distributed based on spatial constructs of the objects, rather than enumerating parts or collections. However, the presence of spatial reasoning in children's early fraction experiences is implicit within much of the literature and…

Few studies have explored school-level effectiveness and teachers' mathematics instruction within classrooms simultaneously. This study used multiple data sources, including classroom observations and teacher interviews, to understand the mathematical classroom learning environments, and teachers' perceptions and expectations about their students…

For students to engage in mathematical thinking, a greater emphasis is needed on the expectations of students, by themselves and others, as active listeners and explainers. As student responsibility for mathematical thinking and participation increases, the roles of the teacher and learner change. A qualitative study of changing classroom…

This study elaborates on the pivotal roles of mathematical and statistical models in data-driven predictions in an integrated STEM context using the case of Year 4 students: (?) "a descriptive means" to describe the features of trends and variability of data and (?) "an explanatory means" to explain causal relationships behind…

This paper reports on a study that seeks new insight into how the expertise of specialist mathematics intervention teachers might be harnessed to support classroom teachers to assist students who experience difficulty learning mathematics. Findings show that the classroom teachers' confidence increased after engaging in co-teaching cycles led by…

The research used a descriptive-analytical method and a sample of (350) female field teachers to examine the effects of preschool education on the administrative and educational competencies of students in Oman's first cycle of basic education. The research came to the following conclusions: Students who entered preschool education had a high…

The revised Australian curriculum presents a new emphasis in primary schools on the process of Mathematical Modelling. A modelling focus brings close attention to confidence and capability with a potentially new problem-solving process, associated language, and pedagogical processes. This paper presents a Year 4 classroom modelling experience that…

Ambiguity of language can form a barrier to understanding mathematical concepts. The word 'capacity' is problematic as it holds a variety of meanings and might not be understood in school mathematics, to be an aspect of volume. We investigated pre-service primary school teachers' interpretations of 'capacity' when given the definitions of 'volume'…

Mathematical thinking is a complex, multi-faceted process that has been described as messy and difficult but can also show growth and insights into conceptual understanding and knowing. This paper explores the application of Edward de Bono's practical thinking, in particular, the occurrence of porridge words to examine the mathematical thinking of…

Big Ideas can be seen as overarching concepts that occur in various mathematical topics and strands within a syllabus. Within our project on Big Ideas in School Mathematics, we developed instruments to measure two Big Ideas: Equivalence and Proportionality. The instruments we developed seek to assess students' ability to see these Big Ideas as…

Research has shown that many primary students experience transition barriers between additive and multiplicative thinking. This paper analysed responses from 253 Years 3 to 6 students to a diagnostic assessment which consists of whole number multiplication and division problems involving equal groups, arrays, multiplicative comparison and…

Diminishing duplication and finding connections between the "Australian Curriculum: Mathematics" and "Digital Technologies" were a focus of the revision to version 9. This emphasis has provided enhanced opportunities for integration of these learning areas. In this exploratory multiple case study, interviews with teachers…

An understanding of the equal sign is a fundamental concept for early algebra. While literature claimed that Chinese students commonly master the relational understanding of the equal sign in the elementary school, these claims are under-researched. This study used the Mathematics Equivalence Assessment with 237 Chinese Grade 5 students. The…

Perseverance is critical for students' achievement and may be particularly important after COVID-19. This paper includes analyses of teacher and principal interviews and student educational technology usage data to examine students' perseverance during math problem-solving across three cohorts of students during and after COVID-19. Data were…

This study investigated the effects of working memory load (WML) and automaticity on mental addition through an examination of both task and individual characteristics within the framework of cognitive load theory. Results from 73 fourth graders showed that WML, automaticity, and their interaction had significant effects on mental addition.…