Despite increasing accountability requirements and a national call for transparency in public policy, Mid-Atlantic Region state education agencies indicate that they have little information about what instructional materials districts adopt. This report describes first-year results of an ongoing project to generate and share information on core…

Planning effective instruction for a classroom full of learners demands that the educator know what works and more importantly what works better for the group of people residing in the educator's classroom today. This action research study tested the efficacy of using the full compliment of assessments included in the curriculum adoption at the…

The author has been prompted to write this article about finger multiplication for a number of reasons. Firstly there are a number of related articles in past issues of "Mathematics Teaching" ("MT") which have connections to this algorithm. Secondly, very few of his primary teaching students and professional colleagues appear to be aware of the…

In this article the author has used 19th-century arithmetic and algebra textbooks as a way to reflect on current practices in developmental mathematics education. Five areas of special interest were found: motivation, relevance, depth, pedagogy, and textbooks. Philosophic and practical statements from vintage textbook authors remind educators of a…

This paper examines the way two 10th graders cope with a non-standard generalisation problem that involves elementary concepts of number theory (more specifically linear Diophantine equations) in the geometrical context of a rectangle's area. Emphasis is given on how the students' past experience of problem solving (expressed through interplay…

This article shares some personal reflections on several years of integrating educational technology into mathematics courses while retaining the direct interaction strengths of the traditional classroom.

As the last bell rings, students scurry to their respective classrooms, doors begin to close, and the class period begins. Imagine that you are in the hallway of the school and you look into an advanced mathematics class, into an Algebra I, Part I, mathematics class (a course designed for students who have not found success in mathematics). What…

To improve student success in mathematics, the use of research-based interventions is necessary to help secondary students with learning disabilities (LD) access the algebra curriculum. The authors provide an overview of the following research-based approaches: explicit instruction, graduated instructional sequence, technology, and graphic…

Graphing bivariate data in a scatter plot and drawing an approximate line of best fit for the data have become commonly recommended activities for middle school and high school students. The graphing calculator has provided a mechanism for students both to approximate a best-fit line and to calculate the best-fit line using a built-in option. Two…

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the errors made by 265 Form 2 male students in simplifying algebraic expressions. Method: A total of 265 Form 2 (Grade 7) male students were selected for this study. 10 high, medium and low ability students in each group were selected for the interviews. 40 items were administered to the respondents to…

We present results of a literature review pilot study (326 papers) regarding the use of Computer Algebra Systems (CAS) in tertiary mathematics education. Several themes that have emerged from the review are discussed: diverse uses of CAS, benefits to student learning, issues of integration and mathematics learning, common and innovative usage of…

This paper presents a prototype of a computer learning assistant ILMEV (Interactive Learning-Mathematica Enhanced Vector calculus) package with the purpose of helping students to understand the theory and applications of integration in vector calculus. The main problem for students using Mathematica is to convert a textbook description of a…

When we use technology to teach mathematics, we hope to focus on the mathematics, restricting the computer software systems to providing support for our pedagogy. It is a matter of common experience, however, that students can become distracted or frustrated by the quirks of the particular software system being used. Here, experience using the…

The nation is facing a crisis in its community colleges: more and more students are attending community colleges, but most of them are not prepared for college-level work. The problem may be most dire in mathematics. By most accounts, the majority of students entering community colleges are placed (based on placement test performance) into…

Problem statement: Although there is agreement on the potential of project based learning (PBL) and virtual manipulatives (VMs), their positive impact depends on how they are used. This study was based on supporting the use of online PBL environments and improving the efficacy of the instructional practices in PBL by combining the potentials of…