ABSTRACT
It is generally accepted that learning and doing mathematics is an act of sense making and involves cultural, social, and cognitive phenomena that cannot be separated (Schoenfeld, 1989). In past and current generations, mathematics has developed out of human needs situated in cultures and societies—needs for overcoming obstacles or for explaining phenomena. However, most mathematics taught in schools is divorced from the context in which it developed and from contexts in which the mathematical ideas might arise and be meaningful to learners. This is contrary to recent theories of mathematical learning that view all learning as situated (Crawford, 1996; van Oers, 1996; Voight, 1996).
