The authors define two mathematical cognitive verbs which are fundamental to the development of mathematical thinking and reasoning. They distinguish between 'describing' and 'explaining' in relation to doing mathematics, rather than using them interchangeably.

The present study focuses on views of Finnish basic education students on open and flexible learning environments and the extent to which these views are associated with students' liking of school. The data were based on an online questionnaire containing both structured ratings and open-ended questions filled out by primary school students (n =…

The Finnish National Core Curriculum (NCC), which took effect at the primary school level in autumn 2016, includes ICT competence for all school grades, and encourages pupils to document their working processes in crafts. However, the literature provides evidence of the barriers faced by teachers in integrating information and communication…

Multiplicative thinking is a critical component of mathematics which largely determines the extent to which people develop mathematical understanding beyond middle primary years. We contend that there are several major issues, one being that much teaching about multiplicative ideas is focussed on algorithms and procedures. An associated issue is…

In 2001, the Korean government launched a new English language education policy called "the 7th national curriculum," in an attempt to meet the growing public demand for improved communication skills in English. With this policy in mind, the aim of this dissertation is to examine the ways in which the mandatory English language…

This paper examines a procedure measuring student competencies in numeracy using school-based assessments, and demonstrates how the procedure informs the school system on quality improvement. The sample consisted of 7648 students, attending three different types of urban schools including government, formal private and low cost private in poor…

This paper reports on results of a targeted and extended (two school terms) program for building Grade 3 and Grade 4 students' facility with number facts and application for mental computation. As part of a larger project, this paper reports results from two schools. Results indicated strong gains in number fact recall and mental computation for…

From her experience of teaching a profoundly deaf child learning science with British Sign Language (BSL) as the child's first language, Sally Spicer learned methods that could be good practice for all learners. In this article, Sally Spicer shares how providing an opportunity for first-hand experience to develop knowledge and understanding of…

This paper reports on a mid-point evaluation of the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy (GPLMS), an innovative large-scale reform designed to improve learning outcomes. Using data from universal testing of all learners in 2008 on a provincial systemic evaluation, and data from the 2011 and 2012 Annual National Assessment (ANA) test,…