Included in this section are activities on checking with magic squares, general equations for a reflection in a line, little-known facts about the quadratic function, discovery involving volume, and conic sections. (MNS)

The advanced study program sponsored by the U.S. Naval Academy for the Anne Arundel Public Schools is described. Graphs, Games, and Puzzles and Strange Algebras are two of the courses presented. (MNS)

A crisis is observed in the educational gap, most severe in science and mathematics, between specialists and the majority of citizens. Problems discussed include declining enrollments, teacher supply and demand, student achievement, the effect of cumulative advantages on the science and engineering talent pool, and the appropriateness of existing…

Spontaneity has been linked to high quality learning experiences in mathematics (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 1992; Williams, 2002).This paper shows how spontaneity can be identified by attending to the nature of social elements in the process of abstracting (Dreyfus, Hershkowitz, & Schwarz, 2001). This process is elaborated…

This case study documents the pedagogical changes an inner city, secondary school math teacher made as she attempted to help her students learn to use their minds well. Data were gathered in the 1989-90 school year. The report includes the teacher's description of her past teaching practices, notes how she began to change, describes the inner city…

In this paper we report an analysis of a teaching sequence in which Grade 11 students were asked to produce some graphs corresponding to the relationship between time and distance of a cylinder moving up and down an inclined plane. The students were also asked to carry out the experience using a TI 83+ graphic calculator equipped with a sensor,…

This book is an action plan for improving education in the U.S, focusing on the key role of teachers in this improvement. It offers a detailed comparison of the educational methods of Germany, Japan, and the United States. The analysis begins with an international study of mathematics teaching in the three countries that was conducted as part of…

The International Commission on the Teaching of Mathematics created by the International Congress of Mathematics at Rome, Italy, in 1908, submitted a large body of reports to the congress at Cambridge, England, in 1912. Those for the United States have been published as bulletins for the Bureau of Education. The material in this bulletin shows…

Included in this column are Star Trek, a geometric construction problem; a simplified approach to correlation using scattergrams; a calculus problem concerning second derivatives for extreme values; and a note on integration by parts. (MNS)

This analysis synthesizes the research on characteristics of the mathematically gifted and describes some ways in which programs can be designed to address those characteristics. (MNS)

Criterion-referenced tests (CRTs) embedded in the instructional program to facilitate learning resulted in students scoring higher on semester-end mathematical tests, regardless of the socioeconomic level of the school. The nature of the CRTs used and the feedback procedures contributed to the reported results. (PN)

This report reviews responses of students to the Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS). Anxiety in English is contrasted with mathematics, and changes in teaching are suggested. (MP)

A study investigated the efficacy of a model for training teacher education students in a mathematics methods class. Findings indicated that the model was valid for the settings in which it was applied. Although improvement was expected to occur in the achievement of pupils who were taught using materials prepared in the methods class, no…

This study examined (1) the predictive validity of the Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT) relative to the engineering, mathematics, and science grades and cumulative grade point averages of high school seniors in engineering; and (2) the differential validity of the eight DAT scales in comparing high and low achievers. (Autor/BW)

Describes the evaluation of one of a series of plays devoted to the history of mathematics. The play evaluated was a one-act play with four scenes which covered aspects of the life of the mathematician Thales and introduces students to some history of mathematics and the topic of similar triangles. (Author/DS)