Fostering students' mathematical creativity is important for their understanding and success in mathematics courses as well as their persistence in STEM, but it necessitates intentional instructional actions, such as designing and implementing tasks that have the potential to foster creativity. As teaching innovation requires support for…

This article details how certain mathematical "discoveries" that Cavazos' fourth graders made were recorded throughout the year. Cavazos invited a math professor, a biologist, a literacy professor, a chemist, a statistician, and an engineering student, as well as their school principal and computer lab technician, both of whom are…

A one-to-one teaching session with a student is described and analyzed in an attempt to communicate how student attempts at discovery in mathematics can be thwarted by teachers who do not allow room for creativity. (MP)

Shares broad classroom strategies for enhancing academic achievement for all students and discusses the nature and scope of each strategy. (KHR)

Tells stories of children in their first year of school (mostly age five) who were using calculators for the first time. Implications are that children's thinking moves from a rough to a more thorough and refined grasp of the whole. Learning mathematics with calculators is more like the learning of language than traditional classroom mathematics.…

Discusses an activity-based, exploratory-centered model of instruction based on the Piagetian theory of developmental learning that bridges the gap between the expected and actual levels of student reasoning. Applies the method to learning the mathematical concepts of circumference, area and volume, and division by zero. (22 references) (MDH)

Describes the Microworld Chance, a simulation-oriented computer environment that allows students to explore probability concepts in five subenvironments: coins, dice, spinners, thumbtacks, and marbles. Results of a teaching experiment to examine the effectiveness of the microworld in changing students' misconceptions about probability are…

Based on the idea that through active involvement with the materials the child would draw out the generalizations within the material, a teacher's method of activity-centered learning for early childhood education is presented. The first section of the book deals with the development of language through workjobs, emphasizing perception, matching,…

Examines the use of spreadsheets for solving equations by the method of iterations. The combination of the spreadsheets and graphical representation is shown to be appropriate both for teaching and learning the method of iterations and for investigating properties of equations. (Author)

Presents an alternate form of assignment, called "Special Problems," that incorporates writing in journals into the mathematics classroom. The method requires students to provide process narratives to accompany selected homework exercises. Allows the teacher to monitor the student's thought processes and development. (MDH)

Presents a worksheet on graph paper that allows students to determine the perpendicular bisectors of given segments by folding the paper. Students then determine the slopes of the perpendicular bisectors and use inductive thinking to discover the relationship between the slopes of perpendicular lines. (MDH)

Explores the use of dialogue and dramatization to reconstruct the formation of mathematical concepts. An appendix provides the synopsis of a 6-scene play that portrays the rise of negative numbers over a period of 300 years. (MDH)

Focusing on how expert writers in various disciplines convey complex ideas, this paper shows how the techniques used by the mathematician, Clark Kimberling, in various writings can (1) be transferred to other disciplines, (2) show learning taking place, and (3) provide models for students to re-enact learning in all subject areas. The paper…

Describes three activities that the teacher can employ to help students develop thinking skills through mathematics instruction: (1) memorization using the technique of chunking; (2) higher order thinking with magic squares; and (3) predicting games. Identifies eight facets of the teacher's role in promoting thinking skills. (MDH)

Describes an activity that demonstrates a teaching-learning model in which students ask yes or no questions to determine an unknown number on a number line. Provides a sequence of five steps to carry out the activity and suggestions for extending and expanding the activity for different grade levels. (MDH)