The purpose of this study was to generate a snapshot profile of the teaching and learning environment in each of five schools in Cape Town, South Africa. The generated profile would in turn facilitate the identification of critical, localized and systemic factors that might be targeted by a whole school intervention programme to improve the…

The purposes of this study were to investigate preservice mathematics teachers' orientations, content knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge of probability; the relationships among these three aspects; and the usefulness of tasks with respect to examining these aspects of knowledge. The design of the study was a multi-case study of five…

This study examines graphing calculator technology availability, characteristics of teachers who use it, teacher attitudes, and how use reflects changes to algebra curriculum and instructional practices. Algebra I and Algebra II teachers in 75 high school and junior high/middle schools in a diverse region of a northwestern state were surveyed.…

This article reviews research on the achievement outcomes of mathematics programs for middle and high schools. Study inclusion requirements include use of a randomized or matched control group, a study duration of at least 12 weeks, and equality at pretest. There were 100 qualifying studies, 26 of which used random assignment to treatments. Effect…

This study determined the effects of the Explicit Inquiry Routine (EIR), a teaching routine, on the math performance of 14 middle-school students with math learning disabilities. The routine integrates validated mathematical teaching practices from general education (inquiry, dialogue) and special education (intensive, explicit instruction) to…

In this article, the authors discuss the characteristics and outcomes of a secondary-postsecondary collaborative professional development project. This project was initiated to address the issue of students' difficulties transitioning from secondary mathematics to postsecondary courses. Key characteristics include a climate of mutual respect, the…

This study is an evaluation on whether middle-level mathematics teachers' participation in a week-long in-service course on middle-level mathematics concepts increases their understanding of this content. A secondary purpose of this study is an exploration of teacher perceptions before and after the institute via self-report surveys. Participants…

The purpose of this study was to determine the efficiency of 4MAT method of instruction in which learning style and cerebral hemispheres are taken into account in teaching the binary operation and its properties in mathematics. The sample of this study comprised 58 ninth grade students in two separate classes in a high school. One of the classes…

This final article focuses in particular on the engagement of year 8 students who were taught trigonometry using dynamic geometry software ("Geometer's SketchPad"), as outlined in "MT214" and with resources from the ATM website. The project was implemented in three different classrooms in two different, multiracial,…

Teacher education programs are designed to provide candidates opportunities to explore effective ways to teach K-12 students mathematics. Although many of these experiences engage candidates in investigations of pedagogies using technology, manipulatives, media, etc., they often only involve and emphasize more formal experiences such as…

Functions are all around us, disguised as actions on concrete objects. Composition of functions, too, is all around us, because these actions can be performed in succession, the output of one serving as the input for the next. In terms of Gray and Tall's (2001) "embodied objects" or Lakoff and Nunez's (2000) "mathematical idea…

A 2 m long wooden beam provides an ideal demonstration tool for exploring moments. A class set is cheap and can be used at introductory and advanced levels. This article explores how such beams can be used to support learning about moments, equilibrium, vectors, and simultaneous equations. (Contains 7 figures.)

In this article, the author focuses on possible ways to develop the concepts of joint variation and function through the upper primary and lower secondary years of education. The examples demonstrate the building of a range of important mathematical ideas by modelling life-related situations using students' informal and intuitive knowledge. Over…