The focus is on using mathematical concepts and operations to decode holiday messages. Worksheets are provided for levels one-two, three-four, five-six, and seven-eight. (MNS)

Presented is a calculation for the probability of a athletic event. Assumptions, computations, and questions to be considered in the solution of this problem are discussed. (CW)

Assessment of 121 nondisabled elementary boys and 107 boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), ages 7 through 14 years, found significantly lower problem-solving scores in specific math concepts and slower computational performance for the boys with ADHD when reading and problem structure were held constant. Instructional…

A primary math activity teaches students counting and classifying using a book about a mother and child who tour a farm at midnight. An intermediate math activity teaches logical reasoning through a story problem in which students must use information from a story to figure out an answer. (SM)

This paper provides a pragmatic view of efficient use of graphics calculators. Efficiency is described in terms of quick and easy calculation, as debated and evidenced in a Year 12 calculus class. Students' methods of calculation are analysed in terms of the algebraic understanding and technical skills that underpinned them. Patterns in students'…

This study evaluated the validity of curriculum-based word problem-solving measures as indicators of proficiency in mathematics with a sample of 77 children in third grade. In the winter and spring of third grade, children completed a battery of general achievement tests in mathematics in addition to curriculum-based problem-solving and…

165 students, from the fifth, seventh and ninth grades were asked to solve written problems involving fractions. In the problems a reference quantity (RQ) was multiplied by a fraction (FR), yielding the value of a compared quantity (CQ). The fraction expressed either an part-whole ratio (PW), or a part-part ratio (PP). Six type of problems were…

Computer operations involving complex numbers, essential in such applications as Fourier transforms or image processing, are normally performed in a "divide-and-conquer" approach dealing separately with real and imaginary parts. A number of proposals have treated complex numbers as a single unit but all have foundered on the problem of the…

The author recently read a research paper by Padberg (2002), in which the development of understanding associated with decimal fractions was studied. Padberg (2002) outlined the situation that existed in Germany, where students were introduced to decimal fractions in the sixth year of school. He claimed that it was assumed students would have a…

This paper has two goals. The first is to present a model of the acquisition of a concept image of function. Theories describing the objectification of function are outlined through two different but related paths, and both stem from the conception of function as a process. The first path to objectification involves the generalization of the…

This booklet is a collection of 45 problems that have appeared in the Problem Department of the journal "School Science and Mathematics." The booklet is divided into four parts. The first part presents 20 cryptarithms, puzzles in which letters or symbols are substituted for the digits in an arithmetical calculation, that require knowledge of…

This is a sample of the final test for students in mathematics at the sixth-grade level in Alberta (Canada) schools. The test contains multiple-choice items and is divided into two sections. Section 1 contains 55 items related to numeration, operations and properties, measurement, geometry graphing, and problem solving. Section 2 consists of five…

A 2-year study of mathematics performance of sixth-grade students was conducted to: (1) determine the extent to which previously reported sex differences in California data exist and influence student response; (2) examine the predominant successful and unsuccessful strategies used by sixth-grade students in solving story problems; (3) discover to…

Some recent research findings with implications for improving mathematics instruction are reviewed in this report. The focus is on two topics: computation, in particular subtraction and estimation, and problem solving. Findings about each are listed, with references for each cited study included. Effective algorithms and strategies used by…

To determine how children cope with some of the demands imposed on them by arithmetic word problems, 200 sixth-graders were asked to solve prolems modeled after those used by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. A quantitative demand was imposed on the children by adding extraneous information to the problems, and a verbal demand was…