This paper reports an innovative approach to teaching problem solving in secondary school mathematics classrooms based on a specifically designed problem-solving module.This approach adopts the science practical paradigm and rides on the works of Polya and Schoenfeld in order to give greater emphasis to the problem solving processes. We report the…

Preservice teachers articulate the need for more teaching experiences for developing their practices, however, extending beyond existing school arrangements may present difficulties. Thus, it is important to understand preservice teachers' development of pedagogical knowledge practices when in the university setting. This mixed-method study…

Developing representational competence early in chemistry education is important. However, research to uncover students' difficulties with representational competence of basic chemical concepts in the early years of their chemistry course is scarce. The purpose of this study was to investigate and identify these difficulties. A total of 384…

"Limit" is a difficult mathematical concept, even for good students. It is also a key foundational idea for the study of advanced mathematics. It holds a central position as a foundation of the theory of approximation, of continuity, and of differential and integral calculus. However, the difficulty for teachers is how to organise…

Students in 12 secondary schools in three states of Malaysia were taught to use worksheets on the chemical kinetics topic which had been pre-created using the MS Excel worksheets. After the teaching, an opinion survey of 612 Form Six students from these schools was conducted. The results showed that almost all the students felt that MS Excel…

The fundamental philosophy embedded in lesson study is the collaborative practice of teachers working together to plan, teach, observe, reflect and refine lessons. It has been well established that collaboration strengthens teacher collegial relationships and enhances pedagogical content knowledge. While teacher collaboration seems to be a norm in…

In this paper the teachers' learning journey on designing a mathematics problem that involves a real-life context is reported. This is part of a larger project undertaken in a primary school in Singapore where the teachers were engaged in planning, observing and critiquing mathematics lessons to investigate teaching and learning. These unique…

The study involved evaluating the efficacy of a conceptual change instructional programme involving cognitive conflict in (1) facilitating form 2 (grade 8) students' understanding of algebra concepts, and (2) assessing changes in students' attitudes towards learning mathematics, in a mixed quantitative-qualitative research design. The…

This paper reports the relative effectiveness of Smart and Mainstream schooling in terms of student achievement in science. The participants comprised 770 secondary school Form 3 (15-year-old) students from two Smart Schools and two Mainstream Schools in Malaysia. Using students' Standardised National Examination (SNE) primary-school science…

Women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) areas in university settings; however this may be the result of attitude rather than aptitude. There is widespread agreement that quantitative problem-solving is essential for graduate competence and preparedness in science and other STEM subjects. The research…

The teaching of mathematics for the development of numeracy is emerging to be an important goal of recent reforms. In broad terms, numeracy involves the application of mathematical concepts and procedures in the understanding and solution of a range of problems including real-life problems. Teaching for numeracy, thus calls for skills in…

This study investigated the thinking styles of high achievers and normal achievers and examined whether the thinking styles based on Sternberg's (1988, 1997) theory of mental self-government could predict their achievement in science. The sample consisted of 145 high achievers in Year 7 classes from a Science school and 242 normal achievers in…

Trends in the curriculum reform propose that algebra should be taught throughout the grades, starting in elementary school. The aim should be to decrease the discontinuity between the arithmetic in elementary school and the algebra in upper grades. This study was conducted to investigate and characterise upper elementary school students…

Technology has become a major force in developing curricula and educational practice in mathematics education internationally. While many technologies are important in affluent developed countries, the hand-held calculator continues to be the technology most likely to be available to students when and where they need it. Modern calculators have…

It has long been recognised that successful mathematical learning comprises much more than just knowledge of skills and procedures. For example, Skemp (1976) identified the advantages of teaching mathematics for what he referred to as "relational" rather than "instrumental" understanding. More recently, Kilpatrick, Swafford and Findell (2001)…