Integration of Mathematics History into Junior Middle School Education: A Pedagogical Approach to Enhance Mathematical Literacy

The integration of the history of mathematics into junior middle school mathematics education represents a significant focus of international research in mathematics and education.The mathematics curriculum standards for compulsory education have emphasized the importance of incorporating the history of mathematics,aiming to gradually integrate it into the mathematics classroom.However,in the practical implementation of junior middle school mathematics education,the effective combination of the history of mathematics with teaching methodologies remains largely unexplored.This article explores the integration of junior middle school mathematics education and the history of mathematics,aiming to provide classroom teaching recommendations for teachers and promote the formation of students’mathematical literacy.

Measurement Analysis and Evaluation of Twenty-Five Years of Mathematics Education Research in China:Visual Econometric Analysis Based on CiteSpace Knowledge Mapping(1999-2024)

Since the new century,China’s mathematics curriculum reform in basic education has continued to move forward in attempts and explorations,presenting many new changes,trends,movements,and developments.Sorting out,analyzing,and summarizing the achievements,experiences,problems,and challenges in this journey are conducive to providing insights for the reform and development of the Chinese basic education mathematics curriculum in the new era.This paper analyses the research on mathematics education in China(1999-2024)using the visual measurement of CiteSpace knowledge mapping,hoping to provide directions for the future of mathematics education in China.

Feeling Good and Functioning Well in Mathematics Education: Exploring Students' Conceptions of Mathematical Well-Being and Values

Purpose:The high incidenee of mathematics anxiety and disengagement in mathematics points to poor student well-being in many mathematics classrooms.Poor well-being may arise in part from poor alignment between student values and classroom experiences.Yet,what student well-being is and how to support it within specific subjects is poorly understood,and intersection between students'values and well-being in mathematics education is unclear.This article proposes a seven-dimensional framework of student well-being in mathematics education and examines alignment between well-being and values.Design/Approach/Methods:One hun dred n inetee n eighth-grade Australia n students responded to three opervended questions investigating their conceptions of mathematical wellbeing(MWB)and what they valued most when learning or doing mathematics.Responses were analyzed using a combined deductive/inductive thematic analysis.Findings:Findings supported the MWB framework and con firmed an alig nment betwee n stude nts'values and well-being in mathematics education.Originality/Value:Our study provides a framework for conceptualizing student well-being in mathematics education,points to areas that aim to improve student well-being,and highlights congruences and discordances between well-being and values.

Mathematical, Mathematics Educational, and Educational Values in Mathematical Modeling Tasks

Purpose:The purpose of this study is to explore the mathematical values,mathematics educational values,and educational values invoIved in mathematical modeling tasks based on different mathematical modeling perspectives.Design/Approach/Methods:In this con text,the prese nt study is a qualitative research based on document analysis.The data were analyzed usingsemantic content analysis,and the selected modeling tasks based on different mathematical modeling perspectives were examined at the sentence level.Findings:Control,mystery,and openness mathematical values appeared in all mathematical modeling tasks,and rationalism and objectivism mathematical values appeared in realistic/applied and socio-critical modeli ng perspectives.Product,exploration,creating,releva nee,pleasure,and application mathematics educational values also emerged in all modeling tasks.Educational values of social justice,equity,social welfare,humanity,and altruism were more important in the socio critical modeling,while the value of individualism was more emphasized in the model-eliciting approach.Originality/Value:By determining mathematical,mathematics educational,and educational values involved in mathematical modeling tasks based on different mathematical modeling perspectives,an effective and more value-balaneed mathematical modeling instruction can be provided.

The Early Stage of the Professionalization and Institutionalization of Mathematics in Late Nineteenth-Century China

In the late nineteenth century,stimulated by the demand for modern military technology,mathematics research and education in China developed rapidly,resulting in the emergence of the first generation of professional mathematicians.This marks the starting point for the professionalization of mathematics in China,a process which this paper sets out to analyze.The author first provides a brief survey of the status of Chinese mathematicians prior to 1860.Then,the paper analyzes the social and political context of mathematics,focusing on the improvement of the civil service examination system.Finally,the paper studies the development of mathematics education in the late nineteenth century,leading to the conclusion that mathematics and Chinese mathematicians were professionalized in three major ways:(1)some mathematicians could earn a stable livelihood from their mathematical competence;(2)the social position of mathematicians improved;and(3)the social status of the specialty of mathematics was enhanced.

Keeping in School Shape (KiSS): A Program for Rehearsing Math Skills over Breaks from School

If you don’t use it,you lose it.School breaks,during which students do not regularly participate in instruction,can therefore have negative consequences on learning.This is especially true for mathematics learning since skills build progressively on earlier materials.How can we bridge these gaps in formal instruction?The Keeping in School Shape(KisSS)program is a mobile,engaging,innovative,and cost-effective way of using technology to help students who have time off between related math courses stay fresh on prerequisite knowledge and skills.Founded on learning theory and designed on a model of behavioral change,the KiSS program embodies retrieval practice and nudges by sending students a daily multiple-choice review problem via text messaging over school break.After rating their confidence in solving the daily problem students receive feedback and a solution.This study explores measures of participation,accuracy,and confidence in an implementation of the KiSS program over winter break between two sequential introductory engineering courses at a large state university in the Southwest United States.Results indicate that careful attention should be paid to the construction of the first few days of the program,and that encouragement,problem difficulty may improve participation.

The Meaning of Function in the Mathematics Textbooks

This paper’s focus is the examination of how do mathematics textbooks for lower secondary school in Kosovo represent the meaning of concept of function.Textbooks and teachers usually introduce function via a situation with the related quantities already identified.What is required of the students is to learn how to set up and represent the relationships in tables,graphs,and equation and analyze the properties.In the real world,when function is used as a model,the first thing that needs to be done is to identify the varying quantities.So,it is important to let students identify the quantities and let them determine which of these quantities may be related.This way they get a sense of what function really is and what it is for.The function is not the graph,not the table of values,and not the equation.The conclusion of the study is that analyzed textbooks do not represent a good foundation for building a concept of function and a few attentions paid to variability issues.

Constructionist Learning in School Mathematics:Implications for Education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Highlights Amid rapid technological development in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,this article engages with an important question,especially in the context of science,technology,engineering,and mathematics(STEM)education:Can technology transform STEM teaching and learning?

Deepening the Understanding of Mathematics with Geometric Intuition

Geometric intuition is one of the core concepts introduced by the new mathematical cxirriculum standards.It aims to use intuition and intuitive materials to deepen the understanding of mathematics in mathematical cognition activities.It does not only play a role in the learning of"graphics and geometry/but its'irreplaceable role also involves the whole process of mathematics education.Therefore,if teachers can skillfully use geometric intuition in the teaching process,classroom efficiency will be greatly improved.

An Intersection of Mathematics Educational Values and Cultural Values: Pasifika Students' Understanding and Explanation of Their Mathematics Educational Values

Purpose:This article investigates the mathematics educational values of Pasifika students in New Zealand.It draws on student voice to examine Pasifika students'understanding of mathematics educati onal values and their reaso ns for rati ng values at differe nt levels of importance.Design/Approach/Methods:The study involved Years 7 and 8 Pasifika students from two low-socioeconomic middle schools.Students selected their most and least important mathematics educatio nal value stateme nts on a survey.Semi-structured in dividual in terviews were used to investigate their reasons for selecting the values.Findings:The mathematics educational values ranked highly by the greatest percentage of students were practice,family,respect,and persistence.In contrast,the values of accuracy and utility were rated as least importa nt.Stude nt in terview data revealed comm on alities in accou nting for the importance of different values.The findings indicate an intersection between the mathematics educational values and cultural values of Pasifika people.Originality/Value:There have been few studies that have explored the mathematics educational values of Pasifika stude nts.The curre nt study provides in sight into why specific values are importa nt to Pasifika students and how these may in flue nee classroom in teractions.The use of stude nt interview data wide ns the existi ng literature focused on values in mathematics education.

Exploring Issues About Values in Mathematics Education

Highlights•This commentary article is intended to provide a broad yet brief look at research and issues about values and valuing in mathematics education from a broad view about related issues.•The articles in the Special Issue provided new findings,insights,and directions in research on values and valuing in mathematics education.•In the future,more attention should be paid to the issues concerning values as a construct from a social-cultural perspective,and more studies addressing enacted values,using more observational data,and with large scale and long duration are needed.•There is also a need for more exchanges and interdisciplinary collaborations between mathematics educators,other discipline-based educators,and general educators,especially educational sociologists,for the advancement of research in this area.

Research on Mathematics Education in China in the Last Decade:A Review of Journal Articles

This article reviews literatures on mathematics education in China in the last decade.It focuses on papers that were published after 2000,and Chinese Social Science Citation Index(CSSCI).Some influential journals in the field of mathematics education,such as the Journal of Mathematics Education and the Mathematics Instruction were also reviewed.The author shares in this article with international scholars the most recent research in the field of Chinese mathematics education.Mathematics education in China mainly focuses on the essence of mathematics classroom instruction,student learning of mathematics,mathematics teacher education,and its curriculum reforms.

Chinese Upper Elementary School Mathematics Teachers’Attitudes towards the Place and Value of Problematic Word Problems in Mathematics Education

Word problems play a crucial role in mathematics education.However,the authenticity of word problems is quite controversial.In terms of the necessity of realistic considerations to be taken into account in the solution process,word problems have been classified into two categories:standard word problems(S-items)and problematic word problems(P-items).S-items refer to those problems involving the straightforward application of one or more arithmetical operations with the given numbers,whereas P-items call for the use of real-world knowledge and real-life experience in the problem-solving process.This study aims to explore how Chinese upper elementary school mathematics teachers think of the place and value of P-items in the elementary mathematics curriculum.

How Chinese Teach Mathematics:Canadian Teachers’Perspectives

As part of a large reciprocal learning partnership project between Canada and China,this study explored Canadian teachers’perceptions of mathematics teaching in elementary schools in China.Using reciprocal learning and Activity Theory as the theoretical lens,we collected data,i.e.,classroom observations,group discussion,and informal exchanges from teachers in a pair of research sister-schools in Canada and China.Qualitative data analyses revealed four themes in Canadian teachers’perceptions of the characteristics of Chinese mathematics teaching:an active teacher-student interaction model of questioning-responding,a mathematical knowledge-package summary at the end of each lesson,integration of the history of mathematics into teaching,and the development and implementation of well-structured lessons.Contributions,implications,and limitations of the study in mathematics education and research are discussed.

Values and Valuing Across Cultures and Time Zones

Highlights:Values and valuing are seen as enhancing pedagogical actions.•Throughout the papers,the review of the literature is complemented and each research includes specific theoretical constructs.•Regarding research methods,quantitative comparative research projects,which explore students'values related to mathematics,have been influencing other research about values.•A broad and shared theme by the group is the observation of the educational phenomena from a perspective that acknowledges culture and the humanness of the mathematical knowledge.In their research,the collective of authors truly incorporates humaneness in the production and in the teaching and learning of mathematics.

China-England Mathematics Teacher Exchange and Its Impact

Based on four longitudinal evaluation reports of the China-England Mathematics Teacher Exchange(MTE)and related materials provided by the Chinese and English program teams,this article analyzes the impact of the MTE on English mathematics education.Certain positive impacts on mathematics teaching in England were found,especially regarding the formation of new knowledge concepts,the sharing of teachers’professional knowledge and the generation of practical knowledge.Furthermore,as a platform for two-way communication and cooperation between the two countries in teaching resources,the MTE program has proven to be an innovative way for the sharing of educational resources.Moreover,as the program improves and develops,its impacts on mathematics education in Western countries and beyond will continue to grow.

The Relationship between Students’Problem Posing and Problem Solving Abilities and Beliefs:A Small-Scale Study with Chinese Elementary School Children

The goal of the present study is to investigate the relationship between pupils’problem posing and problem solving abilities,their beliefs about problem posing and problem solving,and their general mathematics abilities,in a Chinese context.Five instruments,i.e.,a problem posing test,a problem solving test,a problem posing questionnaire,a problem solving questionnaire,and a standard achievement test,were administered to 69 Chinese fifth-grade pupils to assess these five variables and analyze their mutual relationships.Results revealed strong correlations between pupils’problem posing and problem solving abilities and beliefs,and their general mathematical abilities.