When language is defined narrowly in mathematics classrooms, racially and linguistically minoritized students in classrooms could be systematically positioned as "learners of deficiency." Recent scholarship calls for expanding the notion of language to emphasize embodied expression of mathematical ideas. Taking a critical perspective to…

In our exploration of the order of operations we focus on the following claim: "In the conventional order of operations, division should be performed before multiplication." This initially surprising claim is based on the acronym BEDMAS, a popular mnemonic used in Canada to assist students in remembering the order of operations. The…

The importance of the role of language/discourse in the learning and teaching of mathematics is noted in many mathematics curricula and standards documents. In the research literature, this role has been widely theorised from a Vygotskian perspective. This perspective is limited by some of its underlying assumptions, including an instrumental and…

This paper aims to critique and develop neo-Vygotskian work in mathematics education from (i) within the Vygotskian and activity theoretic tradition, and where necessary from (ii) a Bourdieusian perspective. First, I critique Roth and Radford's (2011) version of Cultural-historical Activity Theory, suggesting that a classroom episode presented as…

Mathematics continues to be an enabling discipline for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)-based university studies and related careers. Explanatory models for females' underrepresentation in higher level mathematics and STEM-based courses comprise learner-related and environmental variables--including societal beliefs. Using…

Presents data about views of mathematics collected through a national survey of (n=63) teachers of mathematics education in Canadian universities. Results are compared to those obtained through a similar survey of (n=103) university teachers of mathematical sciences carried out earlier. (11 references) (Author/MKR)

Reports results of a survey of (n=106) university mathematics teachers' about their definitions of mathematics and their identification of up to 10 books that influenced the development of mathematics. Of the 12 conceptions of mathematics identified, formalistic, deductive, and modeling viewpoints predominated. (Contains 15 references.) (MKR)

Investigated the upper limits of (n=22) seventh-grade students' informal processes in solving first degree equations in one unknown prior to instruction. Results indicated the existence of a cognitive gap between arithmetic and algebra characterized as the students' inability to operate spontaneously with or on the unknown. (37 references)…

Interviews 53 sixth grade students individually in an attempt to discover whether wrong interpretations of the algebraic structure found in an algebraic context occurs in a purely numerical context. Concludes that students' difficulties with the algebraic structure were also found in purely numerical contexts. (Contains 27 references.) (Author/ASK)

Discusses ways to improve the understanding of problems involving combination and complementation. Analyzes three children's initial mental representations, procedures, and reflections when presented with four different situations. Concludes with the impacts of the logico-mathematical relation of inclusion in these processes. Contains 31…