STEM education has been promoted in schools worldwide to cultivate students’ 21st-century skills. Mathematical modelling is a valuable method for developing STEM education. However, in this respect, more attention is given to secondary level or above compared with kindergarten or primary level. Teaching mathematics at the primary level is closely related to authentic problems, which is a crucial characteristic of mathematical modelling activities. After screening 239 publications from various databases, we reviewed 10 empirical studies on mathematical modelling at the primary level. In this systematic review, we analysed the following three aspects: (1) the use of professional development intervention methods/strategies to enhance the intervention effects and the competencies of primary teachers to utilize mathematical modelling; (2) the effects of mathematical modelling on primary students and methods of improving their mathematical modelling skills; and (3) methods used to assess the modelling skills of primary school teachers and students. The results indicate that professional development interventions can enhance the teaching quality of mathematical modelling. The components of the interventions should include an introduction to the pedagogy of mathematical modelling, clarifying the role of the teacher and the student in mathematical modelling activities. Through mathematical modelling, students can generate mathematical ideas, explore mathematical theorems independently, develop critical thinking, and improve their metacognitive and communicative skills. The competency of mathematical modelling is often determined using formative assessments of teachers and students. Because limitations still exist in conducting primary-level modelling activities, schools should utilise more standardised assessment methods, provide universal teacher training, and grant more opportunities for primary school students to participate in mathematical modelling activities. The lack of research on cross-cultural contexts should draw the attention of future research.

Teacher noticing, as an expertize of teacher competency, has received increased attention by researchers in recent years. This bibliometric review systematically compares the current research status, research hotspots, and development trends of teacher noticing in mathematics education. It provides a reference for the future research development on mathematics teacher noticing. Articles related to mathematics teacher noticing in the Scopus online database were selected for the period 2006–2021. CiteSpace, R, and other bibliometric softwares were used to analyze the number of publications, research strengths of countries and institutions, core journals, keyword co-occurrences, and co-citation analyses. The results indicated that the number of mathematics teacher noticing publications is increasing, but as yet the total body of literature is too small and has many gaps. By country, the United States is at the forefront of research in this area and, by institutions, UC Irvine and Northwestern University are the leaders. Among the reviewed studies, framework is the main research theory in this field; the use of videos is the main research instrument; prospective teachers are the main research participants; and developing teachers’ teaching skills is the main research aim. International or regional cooperation is relatively lacking. Considering the lack of richness in the current perspectives, this review has also offered suggestions for future research directions.

Improving teacher well-being at work is a great challenge worldwide. Understanding the stressors of Chinese university teachers in teaching activities is critical for shedding light on well-being in the midst of the rapid expansion of the higher education system and the quest to rise in world rankings. This study integrates the well-being perspective and the transactional model of stress and coping to investigate the mechanisms underlying the effect of challenge—hindrance stressors on teacher engagement. Data were collected through the online platform SoJump in mainland China (N = 7743), and structural equation modeling was used to test the relationship between challenge—hindrance stressors and teaching engagement. The statistical results revealed the following: (1) challenge stressors had a significant positive effect on teaching engagement, while hindrance stressors were negatively related to teaching engagement; (2) challenge and hindrance stressors were significant negative predictors of teacher job satisfaction; (3) teacher job satisfaction suppressed the impact of challenge stressors on teaching engagement and partially mediated the process by which hindrance stressors impact teaching engagement. The findings suggest that the theoretically opposing effects of the two stressors are not absolute and that special consideration should be given to teachers’ job satisfaction in relation to stress management for university teachers.

PurposeThis study explored the mathematical dispositions of Hong Kong mathematics pre-service teachers (PSTs). It also constructed a mathematical disposition framework comprising their affective, cognitive and functional dispositions towards the subject.Design/methodology/approachThirty-one participants completed three structured metaphor tasks and one open-ended metaphor task in which they shared their views on mathematics. Responses were examined qualitatively and quantitatively. Coding based on thematic analysis was utilized to summarize the specific contents of the mathematical dispositions expressed by the PSTs, and a 5-level scoring scale was employed to evaluate the strength of the dispositions as represented by different metaphor types.FindingsThe findings suggest that the mathematical dispositions of pre-service mathematics teachers were generally positive. However, the overall level was not high. The most prevalent metaphors used to describe mathematics were “rice”, “blue” and “dog”.Research limitations/implicationsHong Kong mathematics PSTs' mathematical dispositions are examined by using metaphorical tasks. Three categories are identified: affective, cognitive and functional dispositions towards mathematics.Originality/valueThis study has proposed an original framework for describing mathematical disposition.