A great number of teachers in the United States have found themselves wrestling with an internal conflict between their teaching beliefs and a need to revert back to traditional modes of teaching in order to have their students demonstrate proficiency on high-stakes tests. While they want to include more non-traditional methods in their repertoire…

The third in a series of 3 articles, a study of 30 students was conducted to test the effect of restructuring a unit on trigonometric identities around microcomputer activities based on the themes of educational undercurrents identified in Part II. Experimental-group students scored significantly higher relating trigonometric functions to their…

The California Assessment Program (CAP) administers tests to all public school students at certain grade levels, compiles the results, and provides information that allows educators to judge the effectiveness of their programs and make improvements. This sampler describes the types of assessment that CAP proposes to respond to the needed changes…

This study investigated the effects of Oregon's Lane County "Problem Solving in Mathematics" (PSM) materials on middle-school students' attitudes, beliefs, and abilities in problem solving and mathematics. The instructional approach advocated in PSM includes: the direct teaching of five problem-solving skills, weekly challenge problems,…

The Calculators and Mathematics Project, Los Angeles (CAMP-LA), funded by the National Science Foundation for developing use of technology in the classroom, developed curriculum materials focused solely on the use of calculators in three stages. The first stage studied the mathematics curricula from different states and identified topics that are…