This study used the data set from the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics to identify the profiles of opportunities to learn (OTL) regarding topics studied in teacher preparation programs by future secondary mathematics teachers from 15 participating countries. The topics of inquiry covered tertiary-level mathematics,…

This paper explores the decline in boys' participation in post-compulsory rigorous mathematics using the perspectives of eight experienced teachers at an independent, boys' College located in Brisbane, Queensland. This study coincides with concerns regarding the decline in suitably qualified tertiary graduates with requisite mathematical skills…

"Over-representation" of Jews in the world of mathematics is a common observation, but rarely discussed in print. In response to a new book on the subject by Ioan James, this paper recounts the author's own interaction with Jewish over-representation at universities in the U.S., and also gives information about Hungary and Italy. The…

In keeping with the national mandate of increasing graduates in the sciences in South Africa, a concerted effort in improving the first year experience becomes imperative. First year mathematics courses commonly provide the base knowledge necessary for progression in different degree programmes at university. Success in mathematics courses…

This work describes the design and evaluation of a proposal to use Classroom Response Systems (CRS), intended to promote participative classes of Mathematics at University. The proposal is based on Problem Based Learnig (PBL) and uses Robert's six hypotheses for mathematical teaching-learning. The results show that PBL is a relevant strategy to…

This special issue of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group/Groupe Canadien d'Étude en Didactique des Mathématiques (CMESG/GCEDM) Proceedings looks at CMESG/GCEDM's collective history, reflects on where the group has been, and who the members have become as an organization. Through a selection of excerpts from past proceedings, the…

Web-based testing has become a ubiquitous self-assessment method for online learning. One useful feature that is missing from today's web-based testing systems is the reliable capability to fulfill different assessment requirements of students based on a large-scale question data set. A promising approach for supporting large-scale web-based…

This submission contains the Proceedings of the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG), held at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec June 2-6. The CMESG is a group of mathematicians and mathematics educators who meet annually to discuss mathematics education issues at all levels of learning. The aims of the…

The classroom is a micro-culture where socio and socio-mathematical norms of interactions are fostered by an instructor who represents the mathematics community. Informed by the "emergent approach" developed by Cobb and Yackel (1996) that explains how mathematical growth takes place in the social context of classrooms, I explored the…

In this article, the authors present an approach to developing open-ended problems through capturing contextualised mathematics in photographs. They draw upon their research with the Problem Posing Research Project, a collaborative venture between an Australian and a Canadian university to broaden pre-service teachers pedagogical practices in the…

Derivation of the law of radioactive decay is considered without prior knowledge of calculus or the exponential series. Calculus notation and exponential functions are used because ultimately they cannot be avoided, but they are introduced in a simple way and explained as needed. (Contains 10 figures, 1 box, and 1 table.)

When solving systems of equations by using matrices, many teachers present a Gauss-Jordan elimination approach to row reducing matrices that can involve painfully tedious operations with fractions (which I will call the traditional method). In this essay, I present an alternative method to row reduce matrices that does not introduce additional…

In this article, we outline the findings of a Canadian survey study (N = 302) that focused on the extent of computer algebra systems (CAS)-based technology use in postsecondary mathematics instruction. Results suggest that a considerable number of Canadian mathematicians use CAS in research and teaching. CAS use in research was found to be the…

The objective of the research is to study the effectiveness of the students' performance and the attitude of the students towards using VDO (MTH 225 principle of mathematics) or CAI (MTH 225 principle of mathematics) in studying the topic "Methods of Proof", of 74 students. The students would be categorized into: group A, students who…

We have applied the "practical paradigm" in teaching problem solving to secondary school students. The key feature of the practical paradigm is the use of a practical worksheet to guide the students' processes in problem solving. In this paper, we report the diffusion of the practical paradigm to university level courses for prospective…