The use of technology in Kindergarten to grade 12 classrooms provides opportunities for teachers to employ mathematical rigor, to integrate problem solving strategies and to extend mathematical ways of knowing (Drier, Dawson, & Garofalo, 1999). The presentation consists of two parts. One investigation maps secondary mathematics technology lessons and materials to the elementary school mathematics standards and converts the mathematics concepts to manageable elementary school lessons. The other investigation analyzes pre-service teacher lessons written using ASSURE instructional design format. The major aims of this paper are to present two teacher preparation practices, one for secondary mathematics pre-service teachers (converting secondary materials to elementary materials) and the other for elementary mathematics pre-service teachers (writing lessons using the ASSURE model).

This volume contains the papers presented at the International Conference on “Models in Developing Mathematics Education” held from September 11-17, 2009 at The University of Applied Sciences, Dresden, Germany. The Conference was organized jointly by The University of Applied Sciences and The Mathematics Education into the 21st Century Project - a non-commercial international educational project founded in 1986. The Mathematics Education into the 21st Century Project is dedicated to the improvement of mathematics education world-wide through the publication and dissemination of innovative ideas. Many prominent mathematics educators have supported and contributed to the project, including the late Hans Freudental, Andrejs Dunkels and Hilary Shuard, as well as Bruce Meserve and Marilyn Suydam, Alan Osborne and Margaret Kasten, Mogens Niss, Tibor Nemetz, Ubi D’Ambrosio, Brian Wilson, Tatsuro Miwa, Henry Pollack, Werner Blum, Roberto Baldino, Waclaw Zawadowski, and many others throughout the world. Information on our project and its future work can be found on Our Project Home Page http://math.unipa.it/~grim/21project.htm It has been our pleasure to edit all of the papers for these Proceedings. Not all papers are about research in mathematics education, a number of them report on innovative experiences in the classroom and on new technology. We believe that “mathematics education” is fundamentally a “practicum” and in order to be “successful” all new materials, new ideas and new research must be tested and implemented in the classroom, the real “chalk face” of our discipline, and of our profession as mathematics educators. These Proceedings begin with a Plenary Paper and then the contributions of the Principal Authors in alphabetical name order. We sincerely thank all of the contributors for their time and creative effort. It is clear from the variety and quality of the papers that the conference has attracted many innovative mathematics educators from around the world. These Proceedings will therefore be useful in reviewing past work and looking ahead to the future.

This volume contains the papers presented at the International Conference on “Turning Dreams into Reality: Transformations and Paradigm Shifts in Mathematics Education” held from September 11-17, 2011 at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. The Conference was organized jointly by Rhodes University and The Mathematics Education into the 21st Century Project - an international educational project founded in 1986. Our Project is dedicated to the improvement of mathematics education world-wide through the publication and dissemination of innovative ideas. Many prominent mathematics educators have supported and contributed to the project, including the late Hans Freudental, Andrejs Dunkels and Hilary Shuard, as well as Bruce Meserve and Marilyn Suydam, Alan Osborne and Margaret Kasten, Mogens Niss, Tibor Nemetz, Ubi D’Ambrosio, Brian Wilson, Tatsuro Miwa, Henry Pollack, Werner Blum, Roberto Baldino, Waclaw Zawadowski, and many others throughout the world. Information on our project and its future work can be found on our Project home page http://math.unipa.it/~grim/21project.htm . In this year, 2011, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of our Project, when Manmohan Singh Arora suggested the idea to Fayez Mina and myself around a swimming pool in Bahrain (of all places!) That first meeting was, however, typical of the multi-cultured and global character of our Project and it’s subsequent conferences throughout the world. These Proceedings begin with the Plenary Papers and then the other contributions in alphabetical name order of the principal authors. We sincerely thank all of the contributors for their time and creative effort. It is clear from the variety and quality of the papers that the conference has attracted many innovative mathematics educators from around the world.

This volume contains the papers presented at the International Conference on “Models in Developing Mathematics Education” held from September 11-17, 2009 at The University of Applied Sciences, Dresden, Germany. The Conference was organized jointly by The University of Applied Sciences and The Mathematics Education into the 21st Century Project - a non-commercial international educational project founded in 1986. The Mathematics Education into the 21st Century Project is dedicated to the improvement of mathematics education world-wide through the publication and dissemination of innovative ideas. Many prominent mathematics educators have supported and contributed to the project, including the late Hans Freudental, Andrejs Dunkels and Hilary Shuard, as well as Bruce Meserve and Marilyn Suydam, Alan Osborne and Margaret Kasten, Mogens Niss, Tibor Nemetz, Ubi D’Ambrosio, Brian Wilson, Tatsuro Miwa, Henry Pollack, Werner Blum, Roberto Baldino, Waclaw Zawadowski, and many others throughout the world. Information on our project and its future work can be found on Our Project Home Page http://math.unipa.it/~grim/21project.htm It has been our pleasure to edit all of the papers for these Proceedings. Not all papers are about research in mathematics education, a number of them report on innovative experiences in the classroom and on new technology. We believe that “mathematics education” is fundamentally a “practicum” and in order to be “successful” all new materials, new ideas and new research must be tested and implemented in the classroom, the real “chalk face” of our discipline, and of our profession as mathematics educators. These Proceedings begin with a Plenary Paper and then the contributions of the Principal Authors in alphabetical name order. We sincerely thank all of the contributors for their time and creative effort. It is clear from the variety and quality of the papers that the conference has attracted many innovative mathematics educators from around the world. These Proceedings will therefore be useful in reviewing past work and looking ahead to the future.

This volume contains the papers presented at the International Conference on “Turning Dreams into Reality: Transformations and Paradigm Shifts in Mathematics Education” held from September 11-17, 2011 at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa. The Conference was organized jointly by Rhodes University and The Mathematics Education into the 21st Century Project - an international educational project founded in 1986. Our Project is dedicated to the improvement of mathematics education world-wide through the publication and dissemination of innovative ideas. Many prominent mathematics educators have supported and contributed to the project, including the late Hans Freudental, Andrejs Dunkels and Hilary Shuard, as well as Bruce Meserve and Marilyn Suydam, Alan Osborne and Margaret Kasten, Mogens Niss, Tibor Nemetz, Ubi D’Ambrosio, Brian Wilson, Tatsuro Miwa, Henry Pollack, Werner Blum, Roberto Baldino, Waclaw Zawadowski, and many others throughout the world. Information on our project and its future work can be found on our Project home page http://math.unipa.it/~grim/21project.htm . In this year, 2011, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of our Project, when Manmohan Singh Arora suggested the idea to Fayez Mina and myself around a swimming pool in Bahrain (of all places!) That first meeting was, however, typical of the multi-cultured and global character of our Project and it’s subsequent conferences throughout the world. These Proceedings begin with the Plenary Papers and then the other contributions in alphabetical name order of the principal authors. We sincerely thank all of the contributors for their time and creative effort. It is clear from the variety and quality of the papers that the conference has attracted many innovative mathematics educators from around the world.

In this paper I present a theoretical analysis (genetic decomposition) of the cognitive constructions for the concept of infinite Riemann sums following Piaget\'s model of epistemology. This genetic decomposition is primarily based on my own mathematical knowledge as well as on my continual observations of students in the process of learning. Based on this analysis I plan to suggest instructional procedures that motivate the mental activities described in the proposed genetic decomposition. In a later study, I plan to present empirical data in the form of informal interviews with students at different stages of learning. The analysis of those interviews may suggest a review of my initial genetic decomposition.

The concept of function is crucial to a great extent in modern mathematics and is considered a major barrier to many mathematics students. Students have difficulty interpreting information related to functions in general, and quadratic functions in particular. Quadratic Function is one of the topics which are covered in a course which is compulsory for a large number of students in the General Education Program of Zayed University. This program leads to different majors, including Mathematics Education, Business, Information Technology, and other majors. The challenge in teaching Quadratic Function in a course like this is mostly based on the fact that many students think that Quadratic Function is a difficult topic to understand and learn, and some teachers would agree with them that it is difficult to teach. In this paper, I demonstrate real world problems aimed to improve the students understanding of Quadratic Functions; life problems on this topic support developing student’s knowledge, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, and analytical skills. This paper also includes examples of the techniques used with graphing of quadratic function, the algebra, and inverses of the same function. International move to improve mathematics curriculum have supported new goals for student’s learning which highlights problem solving skills, reasoning, ability to work in groups and individually, and use of technology. Knowing that information technology plays considerable role in achieving the above goals, teaching students the concept of Quadratic Functions can be smoothly achieved by using Information Technology in solving real world problems.

No description available.

The use of technology in Kindergarten to grade 12 classrooms provides opportunities for teachers to employ mathematical rigor, to integrate problem solving strategies and to extend mathematical ways of knowing (Drier, Dawson, & Garofalo, 1999). The presentation consists of two parts. One investigation maps secondary mathematics technology lessons and materials to the elementary school mathematics standards and converts the mathematics concepts to manageable elementary school lessons. The other investigation analyzes pre-service teacher lessons written using ASSURE instructional design format. The major aims of this paper are to present two teacher preparation practices, one for secondary mathematics pre-service teachers (converting secondary materials to elementary materials) and the other for elementary mathematics pre-service teachers (writing lessons using the ASSURE model).

The concept of function is crucial to a great extent in modern mathematics and is considered a major barrier to many mathematics students. Students have difficulty interpreting information related to functions in general, and quadratic functions in particular. Quadratic Function is one of the topics which are covered in a course which is compulsory for a large number of students in the General Education Program of Zayed University. This program leads to different majors, including Mathematics Education, Business, Information Technology, and other majors. The challenge in teaching Quadratic Function in a course like this is mostly based on the fact that many students think that Quadratic Function is a difficult topic to understand and learn, and some teachers would agree with them that it is difficult to teach. In this paper, I demonstrate real world problems aimed to improve the students understanding of Quadratic Functions; life problems on this topic support developing student’s knowledge, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, and analytical skills. This paper also includes examples of the techniques used with graphing of quadratic function, the algebra, and inverses of the same function. International move to improve mathematics curriculum have supported new goals for student’s learning which highlights problem solving skills, reasoning, ability to work in groups and individually, and use of technology. Knowing that information technology plays considerable role in achieving the above goals, teaching students the concept of Quadratic Functions can be smoothly achieved by using Information Technology in solving real world problems.