This article discusses the findings of a case study that explored the use of explanatory talk in mathematics teacher education lessons on how to teach the concept of place value. The Mathematics Discourse in Instruction framework guided the study, in particular the element of naming in explanatory talk. Three teacher educators' lessons on the…

Research on mathematical equivalence, and to some extent, on number structure in early grade mathematics, has shown that most students at primary and secondary levels understand these concepts instrumentally rather than relationally. The study reported in this paper uses a design research approach to explore both mathematical equivalence and…

This paper focuses on the Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education's (SAARMSTE's) role as a platform supporting research dissemination and connecting researchers in early grades mathematics (EGM) in the Southern African region. A review of the Long Papers in SAARMSTE over the last 20 years supports…

The Primary Teacher Education (PrimTEd) project was established in response to concerns about the pre-service preparation of primary teachers in South Africa. In order to inform the development of appropriate pre-service mathematics courses, an initial need in the PrimTEd project was to establish the nature of the mathematical knowledge of…

While a consensus within the field exists that pre-service teachers need adequate knowledge and skills to become effective teachers in mathematics, less is known about how they understand the mathematical knowledge needed for teaching in elementary education. This paper explores how Malawian pre-service teachers understand the mathematical…

This paper reports on the professional development of four mathematics teachers in South Africa. The four teachers all participated in a Mathematical Thinking course before taking an Advanced Certificate in Education in mathematics. The research, which aimed to understand these teachers' ongoing professional development, took place two years after…

It is a known fact that South African learners underachieve in mathematics. One possible factor that might have an influence on their mathematics achievement is the conceptual knowledge of mathematics teachers. In order to facilitate conceptual understanding, mathematics teachers themselves must possess profound mathematical knowledge. One key…

Reflective practice is a crucial element of professional growth that is gaining in popularity in teacher education, yet the ability to reflect is a skill that is neither natural nor easy to develop. This paper reports on an investigation that sought to establish if pre-service teachers at a South African university -- in the process of learning to…

Mathematical engagement is a complex process of interaction between the person and the world. This interaction is strongly influenced by the concepts and structure of the mathematical field, by the practical and symbolic tools of mathematics and by the focus of investigation in the world. This paper reports on research that involves a detailed…

Enactivism, as an interesting and useful theoretical underpinning is gaining traction in Mathematics Education research. It forms the central theme of this paper whose aim is two-fold: first to describe and engage with how elements of enactivism informed a PhD study, both on a theoretical and analytical level, and second to reflect on the enacted…

There is limited evidence of guidelines for planning for teaching at the higher education level either in the research literature or in higher education institutions themselves. As a result, novice lecturers struggle to plan for their teaching. The purpose of this study was to explore how planning can be done at a higher education institution by…

The traditional transmission-based school curriculum in South Africa has been replaced by an outcomes-based school curriculum since 1998. In this article we report on a comparative study on the mathematical knowledge and skills of two cohorts of first-year students: the last cohort to be exposed to a transmission curriculum in Grades 10-12 and the…