Abstract
The book investigates the ways mathematics teachers use challenging tasks in classrooms. The first part of the book describes the theoretical background: typology of mathematical tasks and mathematical knowledge, the characteristics of teaching situation in mathematical classrooms, the choice of mathematical tasks and the methodology for investigating their use in mathematics teaching.
The theoretical background of the Theory of didactical situations in mathematics is emphasized. The second part of the book presents a collection of four learning activities with the results of analysed experiments.
The collection illustrates several tendencies in mathematics teaching which encourage the students to construct new mathematical knowledge and to use it meaningfully in the framework of their cognitive structure.