On the teaching and learing of Dienes' principles

Zoltan Dienes' principles of mathematical learning have been an integral part of mathematics education literature and applied both to the teaching and learning of mathematics as well as research on processes such as abstraction and generalization of mathematical structures. Most extant textbooks of cognitive learning theories in mathematics education include a treatment of Dienes' seminal contributions. Yet, there are no available studies at the tertiary level on how students internalise the meaning of Dienes' principles. This paper explores post-graduate mathematics education student's understanding of Dienes' principles and their ability to reflexively apply the principles to their own thinking on structurally similar problems. Some implications are offered for university educators engaged in the training of future researchers in the field.