Early results from the Vermont Portfolio Project, which evaluated the progress of fourth and eighth graders in reading and mathematics using samples of student products, suggests that improvement is still needed in both subjects. Many factors will influence this pilot project's future direction, including availability of resources and development…

A paradigm that suggests the critical factor of quality rather than quantity of knowledge is proposed. The potential for retention and transfer in using a design and technology approach is discussed. Activities that generate relevant data for students are provided. (KR)

Presents a simple mathematical model in which resultant speed is the sum or difference between wind speed and runner speed and a more complex model that assumes that only a proportion of the wind's speed affects one's running speed to describe the time difference between running with and without wind. (MDH)

A summative evaluation of "Square One TV," an educational mathematics series produced by the Children's Television Workshop, shows that children who regularly viewed the program showed significant improvement in solving unfamiliar, complex mathematical problems, and viewers showed improvement in their mathematical problem-solving ability…

A conceptual framework is presented for the development of the Quantitative Understanding: Amplifying Student Achievement and Reasoning (QUASAR) Cognitive Assessment Instrument (QCAI) that focuses on the ability of middle-school students to problem solve, reason, and communicate mathematically. The instrument will provide programatic rather than…

A mathematics staff development program engaged kindergarten through twelfth grade Georgia teachers in a constructivist approach to learning for use in the classroom. The Problem-Solving and Thinking Project emphasized that teacher and student learning is not done passively and that teachers must be taught as it is hoped they will teach. (SM)

The effectiveness of instruction in word-problem solving for students with learning problems in 25 outcome studies was examined across student characteristics, instructional features, methodological features, skill maintenance, and generalization components. Computer-assisted instruction was found to be most effective for group-design studies;…

The problem-solving performance of high-achieving (HA) and low-achieving (LA) 11th-grade students was compared during solution of geometry problems using a think-aloud procedure. Detailed analysis of problem-solving protocols indicated that HA students not only accessed a greater body of geometrical knowledge but also used that knowledge more…

The aim of the present study was to investigate the performance in arithmetic related to achievement levels in reading and mathematics. Basic arithmetical facts and multi-step calculations were examined. The participants were 941 pupils aged 8 (N = 415), 10 (N = 274) and 13 (N = 252) years. The pupils were divided into four groups by standardized…

The authors investigated the effects of online discussion embedded within metacognitive guidance on mathematical literacy and self-regulated learning (SRL). They compared 4 instructional methods: online discussion embedded within metacognitive guidance (Online+Meta), online discussion without metacognitive guidance (Online), face-to-face…

Teachers are expected today to assess student understanding as an integral part of instruction, using a combination of various assessment methods and tools, among which are observing students solve problems in class and listening to their mathematical discussions. The aim of our study is to explore what it might mean for a teacher to hear students…

This study, part of a narrative classroom inquiry into the teaching and learning of mathematics in a Canadian elementary classroom, emerges from the three years I was a participant-observer in Janine O'Neil's 3rd/4th-grade classroom at Bay Street Community School. Drawing on the curriculum commonplaces of teacher, social milieu, subject matter,…

Schematic models have been used extensively in educational research to represent relationships between variables diagrammatically, including the interrelationships between factors associated with teachers' beliefs and practices. A review of such models informed the development of a new model that was used to plan an investigation into primary…

Developed jointly by OECD member countries through the OECD's Directorate for Education, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) aims to measure how far students approaching the end of compulsory education have acquired some of the knowledge and skills essential for full participation in the knowledge society. The assessment is…

In this study we created an environment for peer learning, where students teach students by making oral presentations in groups about solving mathematical problems and explaining the theoretical background in mathematics, during the first year of an undergraduate engineering programme at the Norrkoping campus of the Linkoping University. In order…