Discusses games using number tablets. Describes general advantages of the games over using pencil and paper. Provides needs, skills, players, rules, and variations for eight games. (YP)

This article explores an application of combinations, geometric series, and elementary probability that arises in a Biblical setting. Describes examples of the applications such as the use of "urim and thummin." (YP)

Reports the performance of grade six students in the Australian Primary Schools Mathematics Competition for 1990 to 1992 and provides general comparisons across states. Results showed that, overall, boys outperformed girls. Appendix contains selected competition questions. (MKR)

Over 5,000 students participated in a study of the dimensionality and stability of the item parameter estimates of a mathematics performance assessment developed for the Quantitative Understanding: Amplifying Student Achievement and Reasoning (QUASAR) Project. Results demonstrate the test's dimensionality and illustrate ways to examine use of the…

Explores the ongoing debate over quantitative versus qualitative research, arguing that qualitative research has evolved from a methodological approach into a social and political ideology. The current emphasis on narrative ways of sharing knowledge raises concerns about evaluation and hypothesis testing. (SLD)

Data on 13,881 students and their parents suggests that mother's time in the labor force is clearly only associated with amount of unsupervised time after school and whether parents volunteer at school. Students' gains in test scores over two years are generally independent of maternal employment status. (JPS)

Analysis of the American College Test (ACT) scores of 17,451 students applying for college admission between 1981 and 1985 found that high school students who studied a foreign language consistently scored higher on ACT English and mathematics components than did students who did not study a foreign language in high school. (nine references) (CB)

Discusses the use of multiple-choice mathematics test items to diagnose student misunderstandings. Properties of semi-dense items (response interpretability, response discrimination, rule discrimination, exhaustive rule set usage, and semi-density) are discussed and illustrated with an example and by using a refined item digraph. (18 references)…

Shares students' experiences with working geometrical proofs in cooperative groups. Presents an example of week-long group take-home test. (ASK)

Studied the psychometric characteristics of a developmental assessment in mathematics composed of 19 performance tasks for students in grades K-3. Reports convergent validity coefficients, internal consistency reliability, interrater reliability, and task orderings. (SLD)

Investigated the relationship between measures of mathematics teacher skill and student achievement in 795 California high schools. Results support the hypothesis that there is a shortage of qualified mathematics teachers in California, and that this shortage is associated with low student scores. (SLD)

Discusses the national option mathematics test developed by Dutch educators because of doubts that the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) mathematics test was appropriate for Dutch students. Discusses test results that indicate that the TIMSS was, in fact, appropriate for use in the Netherlands. (SLD)

Considers the way in which games can be woven into the curriculum to help pupils practice their mental skills in a situation quite different from the traditional mental test and in a way which reduces the pressures felt by pupils. (ASK)

Reports research into the conceptions of mathematics, orientations to studying it, and experiences of learning it of 300 Australian first-year university students. Results suggest two qualitatively different experiences of learning mathematics. Differences in students' conceptions of mathematics were related to their experiences and their…

Used mathematics achievement data from the 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, and the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 to examine the sex difference by item difficulty interaction. The predicted negative correlation was found for all eight populations and was…