Focuses on mental strategies for computing in the middle grades. Describes what they are and why they are important. Refers to relevant research and presents some teaching ideas for developing these strategies beyond the primary grades. Includes a discussion of the role of mental calculation in everyday life both past and future. Contains 27…

Offers a former U.S. president's reflections on service and its role in higher education. Discusses personal experiences that shaped his views on service and examines ways in which colleges and universities can promote student service learning. Outlines some of the skills gained through service work and covers other issues. (RJM)

Offers reflections on a former president's remarks concerning service and describes what one university organization is learning about volunteerism and community service on campus. Identifies likely participants in service projects and discusses the benefits of service; ways to promote service participation, service and leadership; and service and…

Describes how to use a well-known book, "Caps for Sale", with children as a springboard for mathematical problem solving. Presents patterning problems, problems created by the student, problems with a known total and unknown parts, and problems with known parts and an unknown total. (KHR)

Presents a teaching experience with high school students in geometry class using hand signals that reinforce meaning of geometric concepts. (KHR)

Describes a successful classroom activity in which a game, Relay Review, is used to help students see the relevance of mathematics to their everyday lives and enjoy learning mathematics. (KHR)

Describes the history of the 14th-century mathematician and some samples of his work with word problems. Introduces ways of using historically original sources as a way to interest students and teach mathematics. (KHR)

Outlines a method for evaluating the strategy training component in composition textbooks designed for English-as-a-Second-Language and other second and foreign language students. The procedure--a checklist--is described and illustrated through the analysis of three sample chapters from three college level writing textbooks. (Author/VWL)

Offers practical advice for learning more effectively on the job. Highlights include types of communication, including written and verbal; informal learning; a work environment that is conducive to informal learning, including organizational culture, job responsibilities, performance requirements, time and scheduling factors, and career stage;…

Reviews recent research on incidental vocabulary acquisition in second language. Discusses key unresolved issues such as the actual mechanism of incidental acquisition, type and size of vocabulary needed for accurate guessing, degree of exposure to a word needed for successful acquisition, efficacy of different word-guessing strategies, value of…

Reports on a strategy training study that investigated the lexical processing strategies used by second language learners when they encounter unfamiliar vocabulary while reading. Results indicate some lexical processing strategies lead to higher retention rates than others.(Author/VWL)

Draws on current research to advocate the importance of children's need for physical activity and the benefits of teaming literature with movement and dramatic play. Focuses on: (1) brain research on movement; (2) poems and stories that highlight movement; and (3) movement and imagination. Contains 22 references and lists 39 children's books. (SD)

Focuses on the role of Thought Experiments (TEs) in ongoing processes of conceptual refinement for physicists and physics learners. Analyze TEs related to stellar evolution and general relativity. Identifies the stages at which crucial errors are made in these TEs and the cognitive processes which lead to these errors. Discusses implications for…

Presents a teaching approach related to the concept of function that lead students working within a graphic milieu to producing, discussing, and testing the validity of mathematical statements and theorems. Indicates that students experimenting with the approach became able to think of functions as objects and engage in questions of the validity…

Presents an exploration of conversation in a single episode of a 12th grade girls' calculus class. Analyzes Habermasian communicative competence which requires students to show critical thinking and the ability to express their views. Explains learning outcomes by teachers' mode of questioning, cooperative endeavor by students, instructional…