In keeping with the national mandate of increasing graduates in the sciences in South Africa, a concerted effort in improving the first year experience becomes imperative. First year mathematics courses commonly provide the base knowledge necessary for progression in different degree programmes at university. Success in mathematics courses…

After the success of a course on cryptography for a general audience, based on Simon Singh's "The Code Book" [49], I decided to try again and create a mathematics course for a general audience based on "The Physics of Star Trek" by Lawrence Krauss [32]. This article looks at the challenges of designing a physics-based mathematics course "from…

While there has been much quantitative research done in the area of attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs, this study sought hear the voices of the middle school child. Therefore, this qualitative study investigated the attitudes toward mathematics and mathematics self-efficacy beliefs of middle school students in one middle school in western…

Provides ways for teachers to make ninth-grade general mathematics courses more pleasant and productive. (MD)

The United States has been engaged in school reform for three decades. The federal government as well as all fifty states have passed numerous versions of reform legislation to mandate and regulate the process. Educators have adjusted their practices to the policy created by this legislation. They have also allocated hundreds of billions of…

Presents observations about the influence of mathematics textbooks and suggests ways to use textbooks to advantage while reordering the sequence and emphasis of topics to allow time for alternative activities. The fifth-grade mathematics curriculum is examined as an example. (MKR)

This report presents results from eight Urban Systemic Initiative (USI) school district surveys conducted during 1999 and 2000. The Survey of Enacted Curriculum is the study component of a National Science Foundation grant on how reform works in USI districts. The study explores the impact of USI programs on student achievement and the learning…