The algebraic competence of 72 12-year-old female students was examined to identify profiles of understanding reflecting different algebraic knowledge states. Beginning algebraic competence (mapping abilities: word-to-symbol and vice versa, classifying, and solving equations) was assessed. One week later, the nature of assistance required to map…

This article outlines a method of conducting a laboratory designed to discover mathematical integration with students. The results are produced and verified in the laboratory by students. Understanding that an integral is defined by the area bounded by a function of x and the x-axis from a point a to a point b is challenging. Students often have…

In this article we describe a project that we used in our undergraduate linear algebra courses to help our students successfully master fundamental concepts and definitions and generate interest in the course. We describe our philosophy and discuss the projects overall success.

This article describes several distinct approaches taken by preservice elementary teachers to solving a classic rate problem. Their approaches incorporate a variety of mathematical concepts, ranging from proportions to infinite series, and illustrate the power of all five NCTM Process Standards. (Contains 8 figures.)

In this study, we attempt to put in question students' spontaneous and uncritical application of the simple and neat mathematical formula of linearity. This is impelled with the help of a written test involving geometrical problems, which is based on an original experimental setting. In this setting, grade 9 and 10 students were instructed first…

The equal sign is perhaps the most prevalent symbol in school mathematics, and developing an understanding of it has typically been considered mathematically straightforward. In fact, after its initial introduction during students' early elementary school education, little, if any instructional time is explicitly spent on the concept in the later…

Teachers know that Differentiated Instruction (DI) helps all students to learn. Yet DI challenges teachers, and nowhere more than in mathematics. In this new book, written specifically for secondary mathematics teachers, the authors cut through the difficulties with two powerful and universal strategies that teachers can use across all math…

In 2006-07, seven Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) middle schools piloted Algebraic Thinking as an alternate approach to teaching middle school mathematics. Algebraic Thinking was developed to help students in grade 6 reach higher mathematics courses by combining the regular and advanced middle school mathematics courses into one…

The importance of teachers' content knowledge for effective teaching of mathematics has long been recognised. Recent national testing regimes in Australia (National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy [NAPLAN]) have raised questions of the adequacy of teachers' content knowledge. This, in turn has focused attention upon the quality of teacher…

The Center for Global Education at Marymount University offered unparalleled academic, experiential, and cultural exposure to 17 Marymount University graduate students and two professors who participated in a service-learning project in Porbandar, India, on January 1-18, 2010. The program focused on teaching PreK-7 grades through an integrated…

This article describes a collaborative learning experience in experimental design that closely approximates what practicing statisticians and researchers in applied science experience during consulting. Statistics majors worked with a teaching assistant from the chemistry department to conduct a series of experiments characterizing the variation…

Not all children are made the same. Learning disabilities like dyslexia, dysgraphia or dyscalculia are either not understood or ignored in schools. As a result, the schoolchildren suffer for no fault of theirs and they lag behind in their course of learning. They may find it difficult to achieve the basic skills of learning such as reading,…

This study was designed to investigate whether and how upper elementary grade teachers who use a reform-based mathematics curriculum adjust instruction for their lower achieving (LA) compared to higher achieving (HA) students during a one-on-one mathematics problem-solving lesson. Little is known about the individualized support teachers provide…

This document presents a summary of changes made to the 2008 Mathematics Standard for grade 8. The table presented in this document offers a summary of the: (1) Removed Performance Objectives (POs); (2) POs Moved to a Different Grade Level; (3) POs Moved within the Grade Level or from another Grade Level; and (4) New POs.

This study used concept maps to investigate the effect of using graphing calculators on students' understanding of the derivative at a point. The study looked for differences between the concept images that are held by students' who are using graphing calculators and the students who are not using them. Seventy one students enrolled in two…