Jana Visnovska

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Verified

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• PhD
• Senior Lecturer at The University of Queensland

In South Africa and in many other parts of the world, decolonising the curriculum has become a valued goal, while frameworks that would systematically support the decolonising project through instructional design are not broadly available. In this conceptual paper we bring readers to consider one framework for instructional design, the theory of Re...

In this handbook chapter, we suggest that in designing resources for mathematics education, it is important that the designers explicitly contemplate whether and how the resources contribute to teaching. We guide the readers in considering how instructional design practices and the resulting resources always convey a specific positioning of the tea...

The measurement of magnitudes was at the foundation of numbers and calculation in academic mathematics until the 19th century. It provided units and the concrete and abstract numbers that formed the basis of school arithmetic up to mid-20th century in France. Our analysis of changes in teaching resources for proportionality (late 19th to early 21st...

We report on five-year professional development collaboration with a group of middle-school mathematics teachers during which their views of what constitutes a productive classroom statistical activity changed. The teachers’ statistics instruction was initially typical in the US context and focused on producing calculations and following convention...

[Open Access at https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-025-01706-y] This paper explores the tensions between two influences that currently shape the design of textbooks and other teaching resources. Through a textual analysis of primary school curricula from Australia and Mexico, we document a curricular trend in which number is framed almost exclusively...

In classroom situations, teaching and learning are closely connected. Through examples drawn from contributions to the SEMT over time, this chapter explores and illustrates ways in which research on mathematics learning has implicitly and explicitly addressed this connection, and how research on mathematics teaching emerged as an area of focus in i...

This chapter gives an overview of the themes that grounded the work of Topic Study Group 41 at ICME-14, and an account of the congress sessions, in which the contributions were reported and discussed. The chapter authors were the members of the TSG-41 organizing team, chaired by S. Rezat and co-chaired by J. Visnovska. We highlight the directions f...

Numeracy is important for everyday life. Being numerate has a positive impact on the quality of life of individuals, with positive economic, health, and social outcomes. Despite this, little is known about the role of numeracy in the lives of adults with intellectual disability (ID). Design research has been used to develop ways to support mathemat...

In this chapter, we review Australasian research about pre-service and in-service teachers’ professional learning (PL), development, and growth in mathematics education. We situate this research within the bigger picture to which it is primarily contributing: supporting good teaching in mathematics classrooms. We first seek to understand the overt,...

This book was written for preschool teachers. It can be downloaded here https://bit.ly/LibSentNum ............................................................................... It seeks to be a resource that supports them in their educational efforts in the general area of mathematics, and in the specific topic of number. The support it seeks to...

Knowledge of scientific inquiry (SI) is considered essential to the development of an individual's Scientific Literacy (SL) and therefore, SI is included in many international science education reform documents. Two previous large scale international studies assessed the SI understandings of students entering middle school and secondary students at...

In this handbook chapter, we suggest that in designing resources for mathematics education, it is important that the designers explicitly contemplate whether and how the resources contribute to teaching. We guide the readers in considering how instructional design practices and the resulting resources always convey a specific positioning of the tea...

We discuss design modifications of a sequence of specified learning goals for teaching early number, which characterise an instructional resource developed in a design research collaboration with teachers in Mexican preschools. We highlight the types of research involvement that appear to be necessary in designing resources for teaching meaningful...

We address two of the challenges that were recently raised in APJTE editorial. The editorial aimed to encourage the APJTE research community, and the field of teacher education broadly, to engage in research, in which a complex view of teaching is assumed, explored, and proactively supported. We offer a perspective on the standing of two of the out...

*Background:* research has revealed that young children’s development of early number concepts is critical for their long term success. Students who are more skilful with small numbers are much more likely to perform well in mathematics five and even more years after they leave preschool. *Objectives:* to develop an instructional theory for number...

In Indonesia, student-centred instructional approach has been emphasised since the implementation of the 1975 curriculum. However, teacher-centred instructional approach still dominates classroom teaching. Textbooks are the main curriculum resources in Indonesian mathematics classrooms. This paper is part of a larger study that aims to contribute t...

This paper contributes to a larger endeavour of understanding how mathematics textbooks are used in classrooms and what shapes the specific forms of their use. Three types of mathematics textbook analysis have been previously identified, namely, horizontal, vertical, and contextual analysis. Based on literature review, we discuss how these three ty...

Since 2004, each edition of the MERGA Research Review has invited the previous editorial team to write a chapter that reflects on issues that have occurred since the last Review. As the editorial team for Research in Mathematics Education in Australasia 2012–2015 (RiMEA-9), we have followed suit. The reflection chapters often compare the current ME...

ABSTRAKT. Na tomto workshope sme si (1) predstavili niektoré z problémov, s ktorými sa pri učení zlomkov stretávame v triedach, (2) ukázali, ako sú tieto problémy logickým dôsledkom toho, ako zlomky modelujeme a učíme, a (3) načrtli odlišný spôsob úvodu do zlomkov, založený na meraní dĺžky a potrebe merať presne.

Teachers use resources in order to support their teaching, to support student learning, and to advance their own pedagogical and content knowledge. Using resources is intrinsically linked to particular knowledge and skills. These are conceptualized within different theoretical frames as competencies, aspects of design capacity, teacher expertise, p...

Researching learning trajectories in classrooms of disadvantage introduces specific challenges as well as opportunities. Situating our work within design research, we illustrate the power of theoretical approaches in which close attention is paid to both learners’ conceptual developments and the means capable of supporting such developments for all...

Design research (DR) methodology is often used to investigate the mathematical learning and trial the means of supporting it. We report on data from a larger DR study, in which we investigated how adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) continue to develop their numeracy in everyday activities. Previous analysis of data from this study indicated...

Paper to be presented at MERGA 2019

Paper to be presented at MERGA 2019

The aim of this paper is to discuss an approach to instructional design in which we intertwine mathematics education research with development, draw insights from collaborations across international contexts, and place educational equity firmly at the centre of our work. Using an example of the instructional sequence on 'Fraction as Measure,' we il...

A mathematical story and activity book that guides a parent (a teacher) in introducing the need for fraction units by engaging children in activities of measuring various lengths with increasing precision. .......................................... The Storybook is available in better print quality (under Creative Commons licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) a...

A teacher in Mexico City works with two researchers on an instructional design project to help kindergartners become proficient in participating in whole-class mathematical conversations. ......................................................................................................................... Available as a free preview article from...

We draw on our work with designed instructional sequence on Fractions as Measures across three international contexts and explore the functions of the design features related to the stories embedded within the sequence. We discuss functions that relate to how stories support students' meaningful engagement in classroom mathematical activities, focu...

We report on an initial analysis of survey data that was generated through a collaboration between the schools of Education and Information Technology in exploring pathways through which future teachers could envision mathematics as engaging and creative subject, while also enhancing their awareness of, and skills in, using digital technologies in...

We explore how resources support teachers’ work broadly, and their preparation for interactions with students’ ideas specifically. We draw on data from two professional development design experiments aimed at supporting teachers in making students’ mathematical reasoning central to their instructional decisions. The forms of support that traditiona...

This chapter summarizes and discusses the state of the art of research on mathematics textbooks and other resources and their use as depicted in this volume. The discussion focuses on three questions: First, what are the theoretical and methodological tools used in order to conceptualize and investigate textbook and resource use? Second, what can w...

Thank you for your interest in our publication! Please contact chapter authors for specific chapters that are of interest to you.

We report on our research collaboration with Irene, a Mexican teacher who undertook to trial a research-based instructional sequence on Fractions as Measures, in her underperforming fifth grade classroom. In the process of the collaboration, Irene became a strong advocate of the importance of pursing all students’ understanding, and notions of equi...

We explore how instructional sequences, grounded in a conjectured learning trajectory, can support teachers’ preparation for classroom interactions with students’ ideas. Using two examples from design experiments, we illustrate that teachers in transition (a) develop a need to select and design classroom activities in which students would come to p...

The presented study is part of a bigger design and research enterprise in the teaching of fractions as measures. We analyze extracts of a teaching session with a single fifth grade student, in which he flexibly compared the relative sizes of the lengths of three drinking straws, skillfully using unitary, proper, and improper fractions. We identify...

We explore how instructional sequences, grounded in a conjectured learning trajectory, can support teachers' preparation for classroom interactions with students' ideas. Using two examples from our design experiments, we illustrate that teachers in transition (a) develop a need to select and design classroom activities in which students would come...

This chapter presents an overview of the most recent volume in a series of reviews entitled Research in Mathematics Education in Australasia. Each of MERGA's four-yearly reviews proudly highlights and critiques the research in mathematics education in Australasia over the previous 4 years. In this chapter, we provide an overview of the history of t...

We report on a mathematics education course for primary pre-service teachers (PSTs) in which both mathematical and pedagogical learning is essential. Part of this course is devoted to supporting PSTs in (a) strengthening conceptual understanding of fractions and (b) coming to imagine ways in which fractions can be effectively introduced in primary...

With the ninth edition of the four-yearly review of mathematics education research in Australasia, the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia (MERGA) discusses the Australasian research in mathematics education in the four years from 2012-2015. This review aims to critically promote quality research and focus on the building of researc...

We analyze the results of a study conducted for the purpose of assessing the viability of an alternative starting point for teaching fractions. The alternative is based on Freudenthal’s insights about fraction as comparison. It involves portraying the entities that unit fractions quantify as always being apart from the reference unit, instead of as...

The importance of teachers developing adaptive instructional practices consistent with metaphor of whole-class scaffolding has been well documented. However, teachers’ development of such practices is currently not well understood. We draw on a 5-year professional development (PD) design experiment in which a group of middle school mathematics teac...

Fractions are a well-researched area, yet, student learning of fractions remains problematic. We outline a novel path to initial fraction learning and document its promise. Building on Freudenthal’s analysis of the fraction concept, we regard comparing, rather than fracturing, as the primary activity from which students are expected to make sense o...

Teaching statistical numeracy in middle school classrooms requires high quality instruction that promotes opportunities to use mathematics in modelling problem situations. In this chapter we report on a professional development session that involved nine teachers from six rural and remote high schools in Queensland, Australia. Results indicate that...

We advance the conjecture that equipartition constitutes what Brousseau calls a didactical obstacle in the fraction realm. We illustrate how equipartition orients pupils to develop ways of conceiving fractions that interfere with the development of a mature understanding of rational numbers. We then outline two possible alternative pathways and cal...

We analyze a classroom design experiment, conducted in a fourth grade classroom, that served to explore an instructional path in which the introduction of unit fractions and supporting proportional reasoning coincide. Central to this path is the use of means of support in which the objects that unit fractions quantify are not characterized as equal...

We examine classroom video recordings as a means of supporting the learning of teacher communities. Drawing on a longitudinal professional development program for middle years mathematics teachers in the USA, we first outline two contrasting episodes in which the teachers analyzed same segments of classroom video in two different points in the prog...

Comparing and contrasting different mathematical models of realistic situations is one way in which the relative strengths and weaknesses of these models, and the mathematics that underpins them, can become the focus of discussion in a mathematics classroom. This chapter reports on one episode from a research and development project where teachers...

We advance the conjecture that equipartition constitutes what Brousseau calls a didactical obstacle in the fraction realm. Building on Hans Freudenthal, Patrick Thompson and Luis Saldanha ́s analyses of the fraction concept, we explain why it is reasonable to consider that equipartition orients pupils to develop ways of conceiving fractions that in...

We investigate the viability of a new approach to initial fraction instruction. We establish the need to empirically investigate whether the proposed approach shares the strengths of currently used approaches, specifically, whether students will (a) construe problems based on the proposed approach as experientially real, and (b) bring up ideas that...

Planning the implementation of a mathematical modelling task is reported in this paper. The data used is from a research and development project aimed at enhancing year 8 and 9 teachers' instructional practices in statistics. In an effort to support student task engagement with mathematical modelling of statistical situations, eight participating t...

In this chapter, we draw on a 5-year interventionist professional development study that we conducted with a group of middle-school mathematics teachers in the United States. The fifth and final year of the study involved a performance assessment in which the teachers collectively designed an instructional unit on statistics that aimed both to buil...

In this paper we report our learning as researchers from a 5-year professional development design experiment. At its completion, we identified five strands of support as being essential to mathematics teachers' learning. However, when planning the design experiment based on prior research, we only explicitly considered two of these strands—Building...

We report on our 5-year collaboration with a group of teachers whose statistics instruction initially concerned producing graphs and calculations. Towards the end of the collaboration, the teachers routinely planned for statistical activities in which generation and analysis of data were driven by a need to gain insight in a specific problem at han...

Teacher mobility is often viewed as a limitation of longitudinal analyses of teacher learning in communities, in which membership changes. I introduce an analytical tool developed to address the continuation of the learning of such communities across changes in membership. In the case analysis, I examine whether changes in membership should be fram...

This dissertation contributes to our understanding of how to design professional development programs that support teachers development of effective instructional practices in which students reasoning is in the center of instructional decision-making. I analyze the learning of a professional teaching community of middle-school mathematics teachers...

This article focuses on the critical role of design theory in our work as mathematics educators. We give particular attention to a specific design theory, Realistic Mathematics Education (RME). We first clarify the enduring contributions of RME to design in mathematics education and then discuss three adaptations that we made to RME theory while co...

Drawing on conducted review of the resources that the mathematics education research community has developed while learning to support teacher learning, I direct attention to researchers' understanding of teachers' current practices. In particular, I argue that designers, facilitators, and researchers of professional development alike would benefit...

In this paper we discuss the considerations and challenges in designing instructional tasks that support both students' mathematical engagement and their developing mathematical competence. We draw on Dewey's work and take the perspective that cultivating students' content-related interests should be an instructional goal in their own right rather...

We use our experiences from a five-year collaboration with a group of middle-school mathematics teachers to ground the discussion of building on mathematics teachers' current instructional practices to achieve a professional-development (PD) agenda. Researchers working with teachers argue for pragmatic importance of positioning teachers as professi...

In this paper, I illustrate that classroom instructional practices that come to be constituted by teachers in context of professional development sessions cannot be always easily linked to the instructional practices that were recorded to create video materials used by the teachers. I draw on empirical data from collaboration with a group of middle...

This paper contributes to the discussion of productive use of video cases in teacher professional development. The paper provides an analysis of two contrasting cases of using videos as a means of supporting the learning of a Professional Teaching Community (PTC) composed of middle-school mathematics teachers in the USA. Although my perspective is...

In this paper, we document the iterative cycles of design research conducted to support the learning of a group of middle school mathematics teachers. The goal of the research team was to support the teachers' ability to reason statistically about data. In this process, understanding the teachers' instructional reality became crucial for conducting...