Opportunities to Learn: Inverse Relations in U.S. and Chinese Textbooks

This study, focusing on inverse relations, examines how representative U.S. and Chinese elementary textbooks may provide opportunities to learn fundamental mathematical ideas. Findings from this study indicate that both of the U.S. textbook series (grades K-6) in comparison to the Chinese textbook samples (grades 1–6), presented more instances of inverse relations, while also containing more unique types of problems; yet, the Chinese textbooks provided more opportunities supporting meaningful and explicit learning. In particular, before presenting corresponding practice problems, Chinese textbooks contextualized worked examples of inverse relations in real-world situations to aid in sense making of computational or checking procedures. The Chinese worked examples also differed in representation uses especially through concreteness fading. Finally, the Chinese textbooks spaced learning over time, systematically stressing structural relations including the inverse quantities relationships. These findings shed light on ways to support students’ meaningful and explicit learning of fundamental mathematical ideas in elementary school.     

School mathematics and creativity at the elementary and middle-grade levels: how are they related?

In this study, we evaluated students’ creativity, as expressed in the solution methods of three problems for groups of students in different grades. Posing the same problems to students of similar (advanced) mathematical abilities in different grades allowed us to look for possible connections between creativity and mathematical knowledge. The findings indicate that at the elementary school level, the number of solution methods and creativity scores increased with age. The collective methods space of the eighth graders seemed to narrow almost exclusively to algebraic methods, but the increase in the number of solutions was renewed in the ninth grade.     

New challenges in the 2011 revised middle school curriculum of South Korea: mathematical process and mathematical attitude

The ‘future-oriented middle school mathematics curriculum focused on creativity and personality’ was revised in August of 2011 with the aim of nurturing students’ mathematical creativity and sound personalities. The curriculum emphasizes: contextual learning from which students can grasp mathematical concepts and make connections with their everyday lives; manipulation activities through which students may attain an intuitive idea of what they are learning and enhance their creativity; and reasoning to justify mathematical results based on their knowledge and experience. Since students will not be able to engage in the intended mathematical process with the study-load imposed by the current curriculum, the newly revised curriculum modifies or deletes some parts of the contents that have been traditionally taught mechanically. This paper provides a detailed overview of the main points of the revised curriculum.     

“Playing the game” of story problems: Coordinating situation-based reasoning with algebraic representation

This study critically examines a key justification used by educational stakeholders for placing mathematics in context –the idea that contextualization provides students with access to mathematical ideas. We present interviews of 24 ninth grade students from a low-performing urban school solving algebra story problems, some of which were personalized to their experiences. Using a situated cognition framework, we discuss how students use informal strategies and situational knowledge when solving story problems, as well how they engage in non-coordinative reasoning where situation-based reasoning is disconnected from symbol-based reasoning and other problem-solving actions. Results suggest that if contextualization is going to provide students with access to algebraic ideas, supports need to be put in place for students to make connections between formal algebraic representation, informal arithmetic-based reasoning, and situational knowledge.     

A new generation of mathematics textbook research and development

This paper adopts a multimodal approach to the latest generation of digital mathematics textbooks (print and online) to investigate how the design, content, and features facilitate the construction of mathematical knowledge for teaching and learning purposes. The sequential organization of the print version is compared to the interactive format of the online version which foregrounds explanations and important mathematical content while simultaneously ensuring a high level of connectivity and coherence across hierarchical layers of mathematical knowledge. For example, mathematical content in the online version is linked to definitions, theorems, examples and exercises that can be viewed in the original context in which the material was presented, and the content can also be linked to mathematics software. Significantly, the development process for the new generation of mathematics textbooks involves using a ‘design neutral’ markup language so that the books are simultaneously published as both print books and online books. In this development process, the structure of the chapters, sections, and subsections with their various elements are explicitly marked-up in the master document and preserved in the output format, giving rise to new methodologies for large-scale analysis of mathematics textbooks and student use of these books. For example, tracking methodologies and interactive visualizations of student viewings of online mathematical textbooks are identified as new research directions for investigating how students engage with mathematics textbooks within and across different educational contexts.     

Analyzing students’ communication and representation of mathematical fluency during group tasks

Findings discussed in this paper are from a larger research project exploring mathematical fluency characteristics, and teacher noticing and interpreting of mathematical fluency. The current study involved students from seven primary classes (Kindergarten – Grade 6, N = 63 students) and investigated students’ written work samples and oral discussions as they collaborated in small groups to solve mathematical tasks. Students displayed mathematical fluency both orally and in written/drawn form. Certain aspects of mathematical fluency were easier to identify orally (adaptive reasoning) particularly for younger students and when students did not provide any written reasoning. Analyzing the oral responses was often needed to identify mathematical fluency beyond knowledge of a correct procedure (strategic competence). Findings suggested that the various representations students used were valuable for observing mathematical fluency. These results suggest that oral assessments as a means to understand and interpret students’ mathematical fluency are necessary.     

The State of Proof in Finnish and Swedish Mathematics Textbooks—Capturing Differences in Approaches to Upper-Secondary Integral Calculus

Students’ difficulties with proof, scholars’ calls for proof to be a consistent part of K-12 mathematics, and the extensive use of textbooks in mathematics classrooms motivate investigations on how proof-related items are addressed in mathematics textbooks. We contribute to textbook research by focusing on opportunities to learn proof-related reasoning in integral calculus, a key subject in transitioning from secondary to tertiary education. We analyze expository sections and nearly 2000 students’ exercises in the four most frequently used Finnish and Swedish textbook series. Results indicate that Finnish textbooks offer more opportunities for learning proof than do Swedish textbooks. Proofs are also more visible in Finnish textbooks than in Swedish materials, but the tasks in the latter reflect a higher variation in nature of proof-related reasoning. Our results are compared with methodologically similar U.S. studies. Consequences for learning and transition to university mathematics, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.     

Mathematical Connections and Their Relationship to Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching Geometry

Effective competition in a rapidly growing global economy places demands on a society to produce individuals capable of higher‐order critical thinking, creative problem solving, connection making, and innovation. We must look to our teacher education programs to help prospective middle grades teachers build the mathematical habits of mind that promote a conceptually indexed, broad‐based foundation of mathematics knowledge for teaching which encompasses the establishment and strengthening of mathematical connections. The purpose of this concurrent exploratory mixed methods study was to examine prospective middle grades teachers' mathematics knowledge for teaching geometry and the connections made while completing open and closed card sort tasks meant to probe mathematical connections. Although prospective middle grades teachers' mathematics knowledge for teaching geometry was below average, they were able to make over 280 mathematical connections during the card sort tasks. Curricular connections made had a statistically significant positive impact on mathematics knowledge for teaching geometry.     

Reasoning-and-Proving in School Mathematics Textbooks

Despite widespread agreement that the activity of reasoning-and-proving should be central to all students' mathematical experiences, many students face serious difficulties with this activity. Mathematics textbooks can play an important role in students' opportunities to engage in reasoning-and-proving: research suggests that many decisions that teachers make about what tasks to implement in their classrooms and when and how to implement them are mediated by the textbooks they use. Yet, little is known about how reasoning-and-proving is promoted in school mathematics textbooks. In this article, I present an analytic/methodological approach for the examination of the opportunities designed in mathematics textbooks for students to engage in reasoning-and-proving. In addition, I exemplify the utility of the approach in an examination of a strategically selected American mathematics textbook series. I use the findings from this examination as a context to discuss issues of textbook design in the domain of reasoning-and-proving that pertain to any textbook series.     

Connecting multiplicative thinking and mathematical reasoning in the middle years

Mathematical reasoning and problem solving are recognised as essential 21st century skills. However, international assessments of mathematical literacy suggest these are areas of difficulty for many students. Evidenced-based learning trajectories that identify the key ideas and strategies needed to teach mathematics for understanding and support these important capacities over time are needed to support teachers and curriculum developers so that they do not have to rely solely on mathematics content knowledge. Given this goal and recent evidence to suggest a relationship between the development of multiplicative thinking and mathematical reasoning, this paper explores the processes involved in developing a single, integrated scale for multiplicative thinking and mathematical reasoning using data from a four-year design-based project to establish learning and assessment frameworks for algebraic, geometrical and statistical reasoning in the middle years of schooling.     

中美微积分教材比较研究

微积分课程的教学对高校创新型人才的培养具有重要的作用,其教材建设受到普遍关注.本文以微积分教学方法和教学理念为主线,从教材内容和案例选取、教材结构顺序以及教材表述方式等不同的角度,分析了国内外部分优秀微积分教材所具备的特色.依此为基础,以中美两部具有代表性的微积分教材为比较对象,着重对两本教材在知识点衔接、新知识的引入方式以及提出问题、分析问题的构思方法和阐述方式等具体方面进行了较细致的对比,力图从中展示出中美高等教育在教学思想和表现形式上的某些不同之处,由此得到一些有益的启示.最后,文章列举了美国微积分教材,在语言表达风格、教学案例和习题设计以及教材配套服务等诸多方面值得借鉴的经验和方法.     

A cross-national comparison of reform curricula in Korea and the US in terms of cognitive complexity: the case of fraction addition and subtraction

The overall level of conceptual understanding and mathematical proficiency of students has been a matter of increasing national interest in South Korea. Recently, a new edition of mathematics textbooks aligned with the amendment of the 7th national mathematics curriculum has become available for all elementary grade levels. To characterize the current reform efforts in South Korea, this study examined the quality of the mathematical problems in the current version of the Korean reform textbooks (KM 2) compared with the previous version (KM 1) and one representative US reform curriculum text (EM). Webb’s (Research monograph No. 18: Alignment of science and mathematics standards and assessments in four states. National Institute for Science Education, Madison, 1999) depth of knowledge framework and Son and Senk’s (Educ Stud Math 74(2):117–142, 2010) cognitive expectation feature were employed to examine the kind and level of students’ opportunities to learn along with the type of word problems presented in the three sets of materials. Analysis revealed that the KM 2 provided better opportunities for students to learn fraction addition and subtraction than the KM 1 in terms of the depth and breadth of cognitive complexity. However, there was little difference in addressing and developing the meaning of fraction addition and subtraction through word problems. Moreover, compared with the US reform curriculum materials, the KM 2 provided more problems requiring lower depth of knowledge levels than the US counterpart. Implications of these findings for curriculum developers, textbook and learning materials developers, teachers and future researchers are discussed.     

A Teacher’s Conception of Definition and Use of Examples When Doing and Teaching Mathematics

To contribute to an understanding of the nature of teachers’ mathematical knowledge and its role in teaching, the case study reported in this article investigated a teacher’s conception of a metamathematical concept, definition, and her use of examples in doing and teaching mathematics. Using an enactivist perspective on mathematical knowledge, the authors give an account of the case of Lily, a prospective, then beginning, teacher who conceived of mathematical definition as an object with particular form and function and engaged in purposeful, specialized use of examples when doing and teaching mathematics. Lily’s case illustrates how a teacher’s interpretation of examples (as exemplifications or single instances) and conception of the form and function of definitions can influence her doing and teaching mathematics. An implication is that teacher preparation should foster teachers’ abilities to use examples purposefully to provide students with rich opportunities to engage in mathematical processes such as defining.     

Cognitive opportunities in textbooks: the cases of grade four and eight textbooks in Israel

The cognitive domain in mathematics, defined as thinking and understanding in the process of learning mathematics, is a main focus of curricula in many countries. This study explores breadth and depth of understanding as addressed in mathematics textbooks certified as aligned to Israeli national mathematics curricula. We compare opportunities for students to engage with mathematics requiring different types and levels of understanding provided by the tasks in mathematics textbooks. Comparison of two fourth grade and two eighth grade mathematics textbooks showed significant differences in the opportunities to learn in the cognitive domain that each provides. These differences can be quantified; the quantification defines the cognitive demand of the textbook. The cognitive demand of the four textbooks varies. This reveals a potential source of inequity in students’ opportunities to learn mathematics. Results should prompt discussion around standardization and alignment of textbooks to the cognitive goals of the curriculum.     

Assessing Students' Mathematical Communication

Assessment of students' mathematical communication through the use of open-ended tasks and scoring procedures is addressed, as is the use of open-ended tasks to assess students' mathematical communication by providing students opportunities to display their mathematical thinking and reasoning. Also, two scoring procedures (quantitative holistic scoring procedure and qualitative analytic scoring procedure) are described for examining students' communication skills.     

Comparing the development of the multiplication of fractions in Turkish and American textbooks

This study analyzed the methods used to teach the multiplication of fractions in Turkish and American textbooks. Two Turkish textbooks and two American textbooks, Everyday Mathematics (EM) and Connected Mathematics 3 (CM), were analyzed. The analyses focused on the content and the nature of the mathematical problems presented in the textbooks. The findings of the study showed that the American textbooks aimed at developing conceptual understanding first and then procedural fluency, whereas the Turkish textbooks aimed at developing both concurrently. The American textbooks provided more opportunities for different computational strategies. The solutions to most problems in all textbooks required a single computational step, a numerical answer, and procedural knowledge. Furthermore, compared with the Turkish textbooks, the American textbooks contained a greater number of problems that required high-level cognitive skills such as mathematical reasoning.     

Looking back to the roots of partially correct constructs: The case of the area model in probability

We use the notion Partially Correct Constructs (PaCCs) for students’ constructs that partially match the mathematical principles underlying the learning context. A frequent expression of partial construction of mathematical principles is that a student’s words or actions provide an inaccurate or misleading picture of the student’s knowledge. In this study, we analyze the learning process of a grade 8 student, who learns a topic in elementary probability. The student successfully accomplishes a sequence of several tasks without apparent difficulty. When working on a further task, which seems to require nothing beyond his proven competencies, he encounters difficulties. Using the epistemic actions of the RBC model for abstraction in context as tracers, we analyze his knowledge constructing processes while working on the previous tasks, and identify some of his constructs as PaCCs that are concealed in these processes and explain his later difficulties. In addition, our research points to the complexity of the knowledge structures students are expected to deal with in their attempts to learn an elementary mathematical topic with understanding.     

What is different across an ocean? How Singapore and US elementary mathematics curricula introduce and develop length measurement

This article compares the opportunity to learn length measurement in the USA and Singapore as revealed in the close analysis of some of their written elementary curriculum materials. Written curricula strongly influence students’ learning of mathematics, without completely determining it. The Trends in Third International Mathematics and Science study 2007 showed the relatively low performance of the US and Singapore fourth graders in measurement, which was attributed in part to the learning opportunities provided to the students. We examined and coded all instances of length measurement in three different US curricula and one Singapore curriculum through Grade 3, using a very detailed scheme that identified particular elements of conceptual, procedural and conventional knowledge and the textual forms that present this knowledge. Results show strong emphasis on measurement procedures, across all grades and curricula, in both countries. However, in numerous ways, the Singapore curriculum is more focused, organizationally, procedurally and conceptually. US curricula provide more diverse access to conceptual knowledge where Singapore materials focus on independent work involving procedures, within and across grade levels. Limitations of the curricula in both countries are discussed.     

Game Design as an Interactive Learning Environment for Fostering Students'' and Teachers'' Mathematical Inquiry

Many learning environments, computer-based or not, have been developed for either students or teachers alone to engage them in mathematical inquiry. While some headway has been made in both directions, few efforts have concentrated on creating learning environments that bring both teachers and students together in their teaching and learning. In the following paper, we propose game design as such a learning environment for students and teachers to build on and challenge their existing understandings of mathematics, engage in relevant and meaningful learning contexts, and develop connections among their mathematical ideas and their real world contexts. To examine the potential of this approach, we conducted and analyzed two studies: Study I focused on a team of four elementary school students designing games to teach fractions to younger students, Study II focused on teams of pre-service teachers engaged in the same task. We analyzed the various games designed by the different teams to understand how teachers and students conceptualize the task of creating virtual game learning environment for others, in which ways they integrate their understanding of fractions and develop notions about students' thinking in fractions, and how conceptual design tools can provide a common platform to develop meaningful fraction contexts. In our analysis, we found that most teachers and students, when left to their own devices, create instructional games to teach fractions that incorporate little of their knowledge. We found that when we provided teachers and students with conceptual design tools such as game screens and design directives that facilitated an integration of content and game context, the games as well as teachers' and students' thinking increased in their sophistication. In the discussion, we elaborate on how the design activities helped to integrate rarely used informal knowledge of students and teachers, how the conceptual design tools improved the instructional design process, and how students and teachers benefit in their mathematical inquiry from each others' perspectives. In the outlook, we discuss features for computational design learning environments. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.