Surveyed Canadian high school students to note differences by gender in attitudes toward mathematics. Results indicated that for both genders, certain variables associated with mathematics success deteriorated as adolescence progressed. Younger girls experienced more mathematics anxiety and considered themselves less competent, but many such…

Reports the results of a survey of mathematicians about their teaching background, pedagogical philosophy, and degree to which they use discovery methods and expressive writing assignments, including journal writing, creating mathematical word problems, and writing term papers. Concludes that, although the majority favor a combination of discovery…

Investigated the effects of cooperative learning on secondary students' mathematics achievement and attitudes. In one class, students used cooperative-learning groups. In a second class, students studied independently. Results from a student survey and students' chapter test scores indicated that students who used cooperative learning had…

Presents activities to demonstrate the use of spreadsheets in mathematics classrooms. Emphasizes writing across the curriculum and interdisciplinary team teaching. Argues that spreadsheets allow students to make projections, comparisons, and contrasts. (ASK)

Argues that interactive geometry computer software connects visual justification and empirical thinking to higher levels of geometric thinking with logical justification in formal proof. Presents classic geometry activities using The Geometer's Sketchpad interactive software. (ASK)

Investigated the nature of professional interactions of two teams of middle school mathematics teachers involved in a schoolwide professional development project centered around increasing teachers' collegial discourse in order to improve practice. Findings indicated that the collegial interactions had little impact on one team but drastically…

Discusses the impact of technology such as graphing calculators or statistical software packages on statistics instruction and curriculum as it makes teaching some topics unnecessary, makes instruction in some topics better, and allows for the teaching of some topics that have never been taught. (ASK)

Describes a course in Cantorian Set Theory relating to prospective secondary mathematics teachers' tendencies to overgeneralize from finite to infinite sets. Indicates that when comparing the number of elements in infinite sets, teachers who took the course were more successful and more consistent in their use of single method than those who…

This article reports on the findings of a research project examining participant students' points of view on accelerated programs in mathematics from four state secondary schools in New Zealand. The four participant schools in this research offered a variety of different acceleration designs and philosophies and were different in size location,…

"Who would ever use this stuff?" Middle school mathematics teachers often respond to such questions by emphasizing connections and the need for students "to recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside mathematics" (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics 2000, p. 64). This article describes how, within this framework, the bicentennials…

Students use computer software to construct personalized fractal art. (Contains 7 figures and 1 table.)

This article explores the mathematics involved in the NCAA basketball tournament including data analysis, basic probability, expected value, and the multiplication principle. A fun activity is presented that applies these concepts and involves students shooting Ping-Pong balls to discover a best strategy. (Contains 3 tables and 3 figures.)

This article describes an activity where children develop reasoning skills by using mathematical clues to decide whether there is one, more than one, or no solutions to a problem. (Contains 4 figures.)

This article describes how two middle school teachers incorporated algebraic thinking into their textbook-based geometry lessons. One teacher embedded algebraic concepts within an existing textbook lesson while the other teacher elicited algebraic thinking by extending a textbook lesson. (Contains 5 figures.)

This article contrasts relational and instrumental understanding and the consequences on the application of mathematics learning. (Contains 3 endnotes.)