Research demonstrates a disjuncture between the practices encouraged by teacher education programs and what teachers actually do in the classroom. It also informs us that the cognitive and social characteristics of individual teachers such as their attitudes, beliefs and knowledge contribute to their classroom practices. This qualitative study…

This study examined effects of gamified comparison on sixth graders' performance of algebra word problem solving and attitude toward algebra learning. Seventy-two sixth graders were invited to participate in a four-week experimental instruction and assigned to three groups: gamified comparison, comparison, and control. The results showed (1) a…

The recent introduction of statistics into the Brazilian curriculum has presented a multi-problematic situation for teacher professional development. Drawing on research in the areas of teacher development and statistical inquiry, we propose a Teacher Professional Development Cycle (TPDC) model. This paper focuses on two teachers who planned a…

How do instructors guide students to discover mathematical content? Are current explanatory models of pedagogical practice suitable to capture pragmatic essentials of discovery-based instruction? We examined videographed data from the implementation of a natural user interface design for proportions, so as to determine one constructivist tutor's…

Interview with neuropsychologist Brain Butterworth about what research has revealed about how the brain learns abstract concepts such as mathematics and the implications of these findings for teaching mathematics. (PKP)

This model is useful in identifying specific learning problems and in providing techniques for the teacher to motivate and teach students at all levels. What it is and how it can be used are discussed, illustrated by specific strategies for geometry and science. (MNS)

Discusses students' preconceptions of randomness and offers an alternative way to think about the concept using the idea of complexity. That is, the randomness of a sequence can be measured by the difficulty of encoding it. Methods of judging complexity and implications for teaching are discussed. (Contains 30 references.) (MKR)

Holds that virtually all children possess informal abilities required for school success and that most problems in school mathematics stem from social, personality, or educational factors. Describes children's informal mathematical thinking, presents clinical observations, and discusses implications for instruction of children experiencing…

The Smith Report has generated central questions about the mathematics education of UK adolescents. This paper highlights the close match between the goals of school mathematics, adolescence and exploratory pedagogy. This is contrasted with the prescriptive nature of current regimes. In particular, without careful attention to pedagogy it is…

Computers were invented to help mathematicians perform long and complicated calculations more efficiently. By the time that a computing area became a familiar space in primary and secondary schools, the initial motivation for computer use had been submerged in the many other functions that modern computers now accomplish. Not only the mathematics…

The range of problems associated with learned helplessness in mathematics is introduced through three hypothetical case studies. Then the basic theory of, the evidence for, and variables affecting learned helplessness are described. Issues of cure and prevention are discussed, and some suggestions are offered for teachers. (MNS)

This paper presents an overview of the Comprehensive School Mathematics Program (CSMP) elementary school mathematics curriculum. The philosophy behind the program, content goals, and teaching strategies are briefly discussed. Then ways in which the program develops facility in mathematics are described in discussions of the language of arrows, in…

Discusses, analyzes, and provides anecdotes about the calculus reform movement, in general, and the experimental, undergraduate calculus classes at Duke University, in particular. (JJK)

A discussion of programs and techniques used to deal with student difficulties in learning math and science highlights the efforts of the Claremont Colleges, the College of St. Catherine, Gustavus Adolphus College, Iona College, Mississippi State University, and Stetson University. (MSE)

Powerful applications such as Microsoft Office's Excel and Word are widely used to perform common tasks in the workplace and in education. Scripting within these applications allows unanticipated user requirements to be addressed. We show that such extensibility, intended to support office automation-type applications, is well suited to the…