The goal of this paper is to promote computational thinking among mathematics, engineering, science and technology students, through hands-on computer experiments. These activities have the potential to empower students to learn, create and invent with technology, and they engage computational thinking through simulations, visualizations and data…

Methods of determining probabilities of various outcomes of the game Yahtzee are described. (SD)

Students need in-school mathematical experiences to build on and formalize the mathematical knowledge they gain in out-of-school situations. This paper presents illustrations from research that was conducted to better understand how mathematics practice and problem solving in everyday work situations compared to secondary students' solutions of…

Genetic algorithms (GAs) are a problem solving strategy that uses stochastic search. Since their introduction (Holland, 1975), GAs have proven to be particularly useful for solving problems that are "intractable" using classical methods. The language of genetic algorithms (GAs) is heavily laced with biological metaphors from evolutionary…

A game similar to Nim is described. Students in grades three through six have played the game in conjunction with the study of modular arithmetic,and have been able to develop winning strategies. (SD)

The social science finding that two-thirds of a population of successful males are first-born sons provided the motivation for a problem solved by a 12th grade honors class. The class proved that the probability of choosing a first-born son from a male population is about two-thirds. (JP)

An elementary school mathematics program can be structured to allow students to practice computational skills and also become familiar with concepts that need to be mastered in algebra. The activities described begin with students' life experiences, continue through concrete and pictorial experiences, and conclude with abstract activities and…

Explores the challenge of providing all future citizens with an appropriate quantitative literacy by means of teaching mathematics through useful applications with local and global perspectives. (Author/KHR)

The on-off settings of a series of eight switches determines the code to open garage doors. Presented are two problems asking the probability that two people would have the same garage door opener code or whether a specific person would have the same code as another person in the neighborhood. (MDH)

A conference on the role of comprehensive problem solving in the secondary school curriculum made two major recommendations: (1) that a significant proportion of the curriculum be devoted to study of "real problems," and (2) that teachers be provided intellectual and physical resources for such a program. (SD)

An approach to problem solving broader than the traditional one most often used by instructors is described and recommended. Implementation of these ideas has the potential of increasing problem solving ability of students while promoting a fuller appreciation of the value of the process. (MP)

This collection of activities shows how teachers can help pupils develop problem-solving techniques or strategies using a basic four-function calculator. The techniques "look for a pattern,""make a chart or organized list," and "guess and check" are used repeatedly in activities that range from discovery to application to strategy games. The…

This supplementary mathematics textbook is designed to teach pupils in the intermediate grades about the vocabulary and use of the metric system of measurement. The book limits exploration to the units of measurement for length, capacity, mass, temperature, area, and volume, with only the following prefixes considered: kilo, hecto, deka, deci,…

Presented is one of a series of resource guides designed to provide students with an improved mathematics program. This guide emphasizes real-life situations focusing on the operation of a store. Classes are divided into grocery, meat, produce, drugs, and hardware sections at the beginning of the course. Students learn how to organize, collect,…

This study investigated children's ability to interpret a natural social situation, depicted in a narrative story, and to use their understanding of that situation to generate and apply a mental model of debts and assets in solving problems including negative quantities. Fifty-one American students from a parochial school in a predominantly middle…