The international trend to increase the cognitive achievement of early childhood children has generated a need for better understanding how concept formation occurs within play-based programs. Yet the theories of play for supporting early childhood professionals were originally not conceptualized with this need in mind. In this article, concepts…

The Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (LCTSR) was used to gauge the relative effectiveness of three different methods of pedagogy, "Reading, Presenting, and Questioning" (RPQ), "Experimenting and Discussion" (ED), and "Traditional Methods" (TM), on increasing students' level of scientific thinking. The…

In this article, some of the ways in which thinking about chaos theory can help teachers and student-teachers to accept uncertainty and randomness as natural conditions in the classroom are considered. Building on some key features of complex systems commonly attributed to chaos theory (e.g. complexity, nonlinearity, sensitivity to initial…

Endorses concept mapping as the way to achieve the most meaningful learning. In concept mapping, concepts are organized according to their hierarchical relationships. Concept-mapping skills can help to organize and integrate information, assess existing knowledge, gain more insight into all knowledge, and relate basic science concepts to the…

Describes the history of five selected problems from mathematics that are included in an undergraduate honors course designed to utilize original sources for demonstrating the evolution of ideas developed in solving these problems: area and the definite integral, the beginnings of set theory, solutions of algebraic equations, Fermat's last…

Urges "watering up" the curriculum for adolescents with learning disabilities and identifies principles associated with making knowledge construction more meaningful. Offered are specific instructional techniques for use in inclusive settings, such as focusing on teaching big ideas, promoting elaboration, relating to real-world contexts, and…

One aspect of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development was tested in this research project. It was hypothesized that an adult individual in the concrete stage of development is able to use seriation and classification in dealing with concrete objects, but is unable to think in terms of possibilities. An individual operating on the formal…

This article describes the modifications that 12 early childhood educators in Japan made to the Sorry! board game to encourage kindergartners' logico-mathematical thinking. Logico-mathematical knowledge is described as including classification, seriation, numerical relationships, spatial relationships, and temporal relationships. Examples of seven…

Researchers from four projects with a problem-solving approach to teaching and learning multidigit number concepts and operations describe a common framework of conceptual structures children construct for multidigit numbers, and categories of methods children devise for multidigit addition and subtraction. Conceptions include unitary, decade and…

Mathematical fiction writing as a learning tool is discussed utilizing an actual example of a student's fictional text related to the field of geometry. Commentary about this example and how it relates to other areas of mathematics can provide teachers with insight into students' schema for organization and internalization of mathematical…

Discusses the role of teacher questioning in the development of a child's concepts of and about mathematics. Proposes the development of mathematical concepts and procedures in problem-solving situations through questioning that engages student thinking and decision making. (MDH)

Calls for the unification of mathematics education research have been made from many pedagogic perspectives, particularly with respect to the need for raising dynamic models that bridge the learning-teaching gap and that portray the ways that the meanings of specific mathematical procedures and concepts are constructed within individual…

Discusses and provides sample lessons of learning by discovery and weekly problem sets, which are presented as alternative methods for teaching college calculus. Both approaches stress conceptual understanding and guide the students to explore the ideas of calculus in small groups in a computer laboratory setting. (JJK)

Examines the issue of how calculators and computers can best be used in mathematics education. Contends that practicing a procedure is noncognitive and does not produce learning. Suggests utilizing customized computerized tools in schools for getting answers to algorithmic problems instantly, thus allowing teachers to explain and students to…

This booklet presents an overview of the Flexible Learning System, which consists of a set of activity based units for trainers interested in a process-oriented personalized approach to both staff development and early childhood education. The following available units are briefly described: (1) Analyzing Children's Books from a Chicano…