In 1984, the Ford Foundation initiated the Urban Mathematics Collaborative (UMC) project to contribute to the improvement of mathematics education in inner-city schools, and more generally, to enhance the professional life of teachers. By 1986, the Ford Foundation had funded collaboratives in 11 urban areas. This document describes the overall UMC…

The Second International Mathematics Study compared 13-year-old students from 20 countries in five mathematics content areas. Japanese students ranked first in all five areas. This report compares Japan and the United States on three factors potentially related to student performance on mathematics tests. These include: (1) time spent on…

This report contains a summary of findings from a study conducted in California and Nevada to investigate attitudes towards mathematics and extent of parental influence on three groups of high school students--high math-achieving males (N=59), high math-achieving feamles (N=44), and high verbal/low math females (N=27). Differences between Asian…

This document provides activities that teach seventh grade geometric concepts by using the LOGO programming language. The entire package consists of the printed text and an accompanying diskette which is integral to the program. The package contains 17 lessons; all but two of the activities contain a pre-activity reading, a pre-activity written…

This book attempts to integrate many of the major and recent research findings in mathematics education into a practical guide to mathematics teaching. It includes a variety of ideas and activities for the prospective and in-service teacher of elementary and junior high school mathematics. The book contains chapters on: (1) the nature of…

This document is the second of three volumes of the proceedings an international seminar which focused on student misconceptions in science and mathematics as well as teaching strategies intended to deal with those misconceptions. An introduction to the volume explains the format of the conference and the organization of the sessions. It stresses…

This publication is a compilation of abstracts and critical comments for 12 published investigations in mathematics education. Information for each study includes: purpose; rationale; research design and procedures; findings; and interpretations. For each study also, abstractor's comments provide a brief critique. The 12 studies are: (1)…

This document asserts that mathematics is becoming essential to many more disciplines. The paper is an attempt to describe the sorts of curricular changes which many mathematics educators are now recommending. The paper discusses: (1) mathematical power; (2) mathematics instruction; (3) new research directions; (4) mathematical thinking and…

The relationship between teaching and assessment in Ontario (Canada) was studied via analysis of classroom practices, content of assignments and tests, grading practices, and responses to a common marking task of 17 Grade 13 Calculus teachers. Research on means of student assessment procedures for Grade 13 examinations was initiated in 1986. Since…

The Sequential Mathematics Sequence provides an integrated course of study for grades 9-11 in New York City. This document presents lesson plans for part two of the second-year course, designed for tenth grade. The curriculum interweaves algebra, geometry, logic, probability, statistics, and trigonometry, with the emphasis in the 60 lessons in…

Deciding how to approach a word problem for solution is a critical stage of problem solving, and is the stage which frequently presents considerable difficulty for novices. Do novices use the same information that experts do in deciding that two problems would be solved similarly? This set of four studies indicates that novices rely more on…

Sci-Math is an interdisciplinary curriculum intended to help students develop the math skills needed for science, especially dimensional analysis, ratio, and the concept of proportion. Sci-Math is divided into two modules with each module having a student and teacher's guide. Module one is a pre-algebra module dealing with the arithmetic and logic…

Sci-Math is an interdisciplinary curriculum intended to help students develop the math skills needed for science, especially dimensional analysis, ratio, and the concept of proportion. Sci-Math is divided into two modules with each module having a student and teacher's guide. Module one is a pre-algebra module dealing with the arithmetic and logic…

Presented are the findings of a survey of students who are, or have been, participants in the King Foundation Forgivable Loan Program in Texas for preservice secondary mathematics or science teachers. Data on the number of respondents in the program and not in the program, and their reasons for staying or leaving (that is, teaching mathematics or…

The objectives of this study were to: (1) develop a working model based on Pierre van Hiele and Dina van Hiele-Geldof's five levels of thought development in geometry; (2) characterize the thinking in geometry of sixth (N=16) and ninth (N=16) graders in terms of these levels (examining at what level they are at, if they show potential for progress…