Mathematical problem-solving is notoriously difficult to teach in a standard university mathematics classroom. The project on which this article reports aimed to investigate the effect of the writing of explanatory strategies in the context of mathematical problem solving on problem-solving behaviour. This article serves to describe the…

In the transition years, Grades 7 to 9, the shift from natural numbers to rational numbers and the associated multiplicative concepts prove challenging for many learners. The new concepts, operations and notation must be mastered if the student is to thereafter rise to meet the challenges of algebra and more advanced and powerful mathematics. The…

This article reports on an activity in a first-year engineering mathematics class designed to strengthen students' personal identities as novice engineers. The literature on identity suggests that students are more likely to be retained in an engineering degree programme if they develop an identity as an engineer and that development of such an…