While the mathematics education community encourages teachers to support students in developing a more meaningful contextual understanding of algebraic symbols, very little is known about teachers' quantitative understandings of algebraic symbols themselves. The goal of this study was to fill this gap and examine secondary teachers' ability to…

Presents a method that connects the area formulas for triangles, rectangles, parallelograms, and trapezoids by focusing on the relationships between the bases and heights of each figure. Transformations allow figures to be reconceptualized to establish a general concept of area that can be applied to other figures. (MDH)

Chess experts remember meaningful knowledge in the form of networks or patterns. Applied to mathematics instruction, effective classroom approaches can use investigation to identify patterns or rules. Described are a class activity and a small-group activity to investigate addition of signed numbers and linear relationships. (MDH)