Expectations for the role of research in educational improvement are high. Meeting these expectations requires productive relationships between researchers and practitioners. Few studies, however, have systematically explored the ways researchers can build stronger, more productive relationships with practitioners. This study seeks to identify…

This article presents a case study in which researcher-practitioner collaboration took place to promote effective use of technology in an urban elementary school mathematics classroom. Data were primarily gathered through classroom observations and interviews. The aim of this study was twofold. First, to increase our understanding of the effects…

This study examined the links students are able to make between formal expressions and situations to which they might refer. Students' understanding of a basic set of transformational rules in elementary algebra sign changes in addition and subtraction expressions with parentheses was assessed, exploring: (1) informal intuitive understanding of…

Investigated were those long-term processes which contribute to high rates of attrition for women out of mathematics. It is based on the contention that university students drop out of mathematics as a consequence of prior socialization, educational career contingencies, and goal commitment and career aspirations, with the mix of these factors…

The focus of this document is on students' understanding of symbolization processes in algebra, and specifically their understanding of semantically laden letters. In the first four sections, four inappropriate ways in which many college students use semantically laden letters are described. Evidence from clinical interview protocols demonstrate…

Describes interviews with four primary age children. Uses the results of the interviews to support a shift from the assessment of performance to the assessment of understanding. (PK)

Some ideas are presented about the ways in which the three domains of metacognition, affective factors, and beliefs influence the cognitive activities of seventh graders as they solve mathematics problems. The research project, initiated in 1981, is first described. Theoretical considerations are then discussed, with sections on affects, beliefs,…

Over the past few years a substantial body of research has yielded evidence that the semantic structure of elementary arithmetic word problems influences children's strategies to solve them. The study reported in this document considered three other task characteristics in addition to semantic structure: (1) the order of presentation of the two…

Investigated whether children who reflected the structure of word problems with their concrete models were successful in learning to symbolically represent problems with structure-based open number sentences. Forty-five first graders were taught to write canonical and noncanonical open number sentences. (Author/YP)

Considered is a conceptual analog of buggy algorithms and rule-based mathematical development. The investigations consider whether children's efforts to make conceptual sense of new mathematics instruction in terms of their available knowledge may sometimes lead them to make systematic errors. In particular, the possibility is explored that…

The ideas and techniques involved in learning about fractions were investigated with students in grades 1-12, in the first 3 years of colleges, in community college mathematics courses, and in graduate school. Also included were some high school mathematics teachers, some mathematicians, and some retired persons. Part I provides the rationale and…

Reported are data from the first individual interview conducted in 1978 as part of a 3-year study on addition and subtraction using verbal problem solving. The research program is attempting to relate pupil performance on selected arithmetic skills to pupil cognitive processes, instructional materials, and teachers' classroom behaviors. From three…

Reported are data from the second individual interview conducted in 1979 as part of a 3-year study on addition and subtraction using verbal problem solving. From three schools in Wisconsin that used the Developing Mathematical Processes program, l50 first-grade children were individually administered six problem types (two solvable by addition and…

Data are reported from the third individual interview conducted in 1979 as part of a 3-year study on addition and subtraction using verbal problem solving. From three schools in Wisconsin that used the Developing Mathematical Processes program, l50 first-grade children were individually administered six problem types (two solvable by addition and…

Data are reported from the fourth individual interview conducted in 1979 as part of a 3-year study on addition and subtraction using verbal problem solving. Ninety-nine second-grade children in two schools in Wisconsin that used the Developing Mathematical Processes program were individually administered six problem types (two solvable by addition…