icon-account icon-glass
See The New Mathomat R300 Ruler

Research papers and presentations 2025

John and Chris will be presenting a workshop at the MAV25 annual conference

John Lawton and Chris Tisdell are delighted to invite mathematics teachers to their workshop on Thursday December 4 at the MAV annual conference at LaTrobe University. The session is about the central role that tools play in learning and teaching geometry. As Chris says “the ways in which students interact with tools can profoundly shape their creativity, motivations and mathematical thinking”. Chris will be presenting a series of classroom challenges to deepen student understanding of geometry, including the use of the circle arc template in Mathomat (which we call Tisdell’s Geometry Tool, or TGT) and exploration of the emerging concept of geometography. 
In a prelude to the planned publication of his PhD thesis on the conceptualisation of angle in geometry education in 2026, John will be talking about the revised angles section in the new Mathomat V7 Explorer manual. This version of Mathomat will include a ROTAGRAM tool, and is designed to achieve a sound spatial structuring by students of this important concept in geometry. Also being presented will be the new MATHOBLOCK (trademark) 3D printed shapes. These are available as free downloads and are ideal for use with Maths with Mathomat lesson plans (also available as free downloads). 

Research Papers

John's angle survey
John is inviting mathematics teachers from years three to eight to share their perspectives on the conceptualisation and teaching of angle. It takes about 20 minutes for the full survey or eight minutes for the quick version. Angle is a fundamental concept in mathematics. This survey aims to better understand how angle is taught in classrooms, and to establish a baseline for exploration of how that teaching might be enhanced. The link for the short version is attached here, for links to a longer version please contact me. Your input counts!

New Research Paper
John Lawton presented a short communication in July at the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australia (MERGA) annual conference. In this session John presented some findings from his survey of Australian teachers’ conceptualisation of angle during the teaching of mathematics. John’s paper can be read here.

Learning to think like a mathematician: ideas for measuring and comparing complexity in geometric constructions with a circle arc template
- Christopher C. Tisdell (School of Mathematics and Statistics, UNSW, Sydney, 2052, Australia)
- John Lawton (School of Education, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia)
Read Paper
Download PDF

Understanding Teachers' Conceptualisation of Angle 
- by John Lawton (Deakin University)
Read Paper
Download PDF

Beyond the compass: Exploring geometric constructions via a circle arc template and a straightedge
- by Christopher C. Tisdell and David Bee Olmedo
Read Paper
Download PDF

How a Circle Arc Template Can Replace the Compass in the Learning and Teaching of Geometric Constructions
- by Christopher C. Tisdell
Read Paper
Download PDF

Mathomat TGT session by Chris Tisdell wins Blue Hat prize
- by Christopher C. Tisdell
Read Article