Many universities throughout the world apply student-centered approaches. Common to these is that projects, problems, challenges etc. stem from "real life". Mathematics is an effective tool to solve problems, but in this paper, we discuss how we reconcile the fact that mathematics is both a pure and an applied discipline with…

The decisions that teachers make in transforming the curriculum into specific lesson plans determine the real enactment or otherwise of curricular ideals. These decisions are shaped by the resources available and by each teacher's goals and orientations. This exploratory study employs Schoenfeld's decision-making model to examine how resources,…

Scholars propose that contextual problems can be used to ground students' understanding of mathematical ideas, and recent curricular trends have resulted in a plethora of resources that introduce and develop new mathematical ideas through contextual problems (CPs). Given the tension between this approach and the traditional role of CPs as…

This study examined the longitudinal effects of a middle school reform mathematics curriculum on students' open-ended problem solving in high school. Using assessment data from a large, longitudinal project, we compared the open-ended problem-solving performance and strategy use of high school students who had used the Connected Mathematics…

Literature is viewed as a natural "thinking" medium to help children experience learning in a contextual setting (Ward 2005). Though, as Draper (2002) contended, mathematics is a subject that children are often unable to recognize as useful in their lives, literature with mathematical components may be able to address this concern. Combining…

Discusses four major issues related to the mathematics curriculum and what research says about each of them, namely questions of content, tracking, problem-based curricula, and the role of proof. (23 references) (MKR)

The Interactive Mathematics Program is part of a National Science Foundation effort to design a comprehensive, standards-based high school mathematics curriculum. IMP's four-year program, which replaces the traditional sequence, involves little memorization, integrates traditional material with topics such as probability and statistics, and uses…

This paper examines to show how an investigative approach to mathematics teaching can honor its two important dimensions--a thinking and reasoning side to go with the skill development. The paper addresses the question of why a problem solving approach has failed, makes the case for investigations as an overarching organizer, and discusses the…

This collection of activities demonstrates how the study of elementary mathematics can be extended beyond the school and involve teachers and students in investigative, problem-based experiences. The activities include topics in geometry, concept of number, algebra, measurement, graphing, statistics, and probability, and are organized into five…

This case study profiled an experienced teacher as she used two problems from a problem-oriented unit developed in a middle school mathematics curriculum project. The curriculum offered the students opportunities to make substantive mathematical connections, but teacher goals may have prevented some connections from being made. (SLD)

Implementation of a problem-based mathematics curriculum, the "Interactive Mathematics Program" (IMP), at three high schools in California has been associated with more than just differences in student achievement. The outcomes that distinguished students who participated in the IMP program from students who followed a conventional…