The material in this reprint, with minor editorial changes, is from the chapter "Doing the Impossible" in MONKEY BUSINESS by Irving Adler. This 25-page booklet contains brief accounts of historical attempts to prove impossible problems in mathematics. The mathematical recreations in this booklet of geometric constructions include the trisection…

This volume contains abstracts of 33 research papers presented at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Most papers concerned instructional strategies; fourteen were concerned with sequencing of instruction and/or hierarchical analysis of learning. Four papers dealt with strategies for reviewing and…

This yearbook is a collection of 14 articles covering a wide range of topics. The first argues that arithmetic is "a general mode of thinking," not a "tool subject." The need and use of mathematics for the average citizen is the basis for the second chapter, and the following chapter continues in this vein by attempting to show…

Fifty-five participants, representing a wide variety of professional backgrounds and views, met to generate ideas for means of improving the teaching of mathematics in the schools. Topics upon which reports were given include: (1) Goals for Mathematics Curriculums; (2) Teacher Education; (3) Problem Solving; (4) Applications; (5) Statistics; (6)…

This third paper in a set on computer usage in mathematics education provides an annotated listing of selected books, articles, and other documents on computers. Entries are organized by topics: the general educational role of computers; computer languages and programming; and mathematics instruction applications, including teaching about…

Ways to use a calculator as an integral part of mathematics instruction in existing curricula are provided. Activities are proposed that will help children think about mathematics rather than merely push buttons. (MN)

A project carried out in Peterborough County, Canada, resulted in the systematic development, implementation, and evaluation of a K-10 mathematics program and a steady increase in achievement among students in the county. (SK)

Discusses some alternatives to calculus as an advanced high school course which will prepare students for college level work, improve their background in algebra, geometry and trigonometry, and introduce new and interesting material of a more advanced nature. (Author/RK)

This study was designed to test whether a learned helplessness treatment would decrease performance on mathematical tasks and to extend learned helplessness findings to include the cognitive development dimension. Results showed no differential advantages to either sex in resisting effects of learned helplessness or in benefiting from strategy…

Investigated effects of teaching an explicit approach to problem solving on the mathematical chemistry achievement of preparatory college students (with a control group being taught dimensional analysis as its problem-solving strategy). No difference in cumulative achievement between the groups was found. Interpretations of the results obtained…

This paper develops and illustrates a latent trait approach to constructing an item bank when responses are scored in several ordered categories. This approach is an extension of the methodology developed by Choppin, Wright and Stone, and Wright and Bell for the construction and maintenance of banks of dichotomously scored items. (Author/PN)

Reports findings of a study demonstrating that language experience techniques can help students comprehend math story problems and successfully apply the mathematical concepts necessary for their solution. (FL)

Describes a textbook study system designed for math or applied math courses in which students focus on solving problems, consulting the textbook and reading for well-considered purposes. (AEA)

Second graders (n=60) and adults (n=60 college students) solved word problems containing relevant information, irrelevant numeric information, and nonrelevant linguistic information. Recall and recognition tasks, along with cued and uncued word stem completion were used to test subjects' memory for relevant versus nonrelevant information. Recall…

The study was carried out within the framework of a project that provided afterschool mathematics tutorial sessions to 10th-12th grade students by engineers in an informal setting. The participating students were selected from advanced level mathematics classes according to their need for additional support. The main goal of the study was to…