Describes a pilot program designed to teach algebra to Texas migrant students via audioconferencing. Discussion includes course development, design, and delivery and indicates audioconferencing to be a feasible alternative to on-site instruction, noting high class grade averages and students' increased mathematical ability. Author/AEF)

Presents 2 teaching ideas: (1) incorporating art, poetry, and geometry in class projects, and (2) showing alternative ways to introduce the statement, "If the product of two numbers is zero...," particularly by changing the word "zero" to "10" in the statement. (MKR)

Presented are two reasons discouraging computer symbol manipulation systems use in school mathematics at present: cost for computer laboratories or expensive pocket computers; and impracticality of exact solution representations. Although development with this technology in mathematics education advances, graphing calculators are recommended to…

Utilizes LOGO to teach the concept of inequalities by programing the turtle to take random walks in the coordinate plane restricted to predetermined regions defined by inequalities. The students task is to discover the inequalities that define the illegal areas into which the turtle must not move. Provides examples and corresponding computer…

Describes study of university students that investigated the effects of two direct instruction techniques in a computer-based algebra lesson: the cognitive routine (CR) and the Corrective Feedback Paradigm (CFP). Research design is explained, results are analyzed, and further research is suggested. (nine references) (LRW)

Described is a study that used LOGO to improve the proportional reasoning ability of students enrolled in mathematics classes for students poorly prepared for college-level mathematics. Included are the methodology, procedures for using logo, and a discussion of the results. (KR)

Instructional strategies are presented that illustrate ways of developing students' understanding of nonnumerical notation that are compatible with a constructivist stance. The concepts of using letters to represent a range of values and those used to represent unknowns are discussed. (KR)

Presents activities which use graphing calculators to explore parametric equations of spirals, circles, and polygons. (MKR)

Explored the variables that affect enrollment in eighth-grade algebra for African-American students. Studied constructs that fell into three broad categories: individual characteristics, home/parent variables, and school-related variables. Assessed data from the base-year student and parent data files of the National Education Longitudinal Study…

Excerpts a student-teacher discourse from a 4th-grade mathematics classroom to illustrate how discourse helps students construct algebraic thinking. Discusses the implications of the discourse method of collaborative inquiry for teaching. (JPB)

This article describes a mathematical model that connects mathematics with social studies. Students use mathematics to model independent versus convoyed ship deployments and sinkings to determine if the British should have convoyed their merchant ships during World War I. During the war, the British admiralty opposed sending merchant ships grouped…

Given its important role in mathematics as well as its role as a gatekeeper to future educational and employment opportunities, algebra has become a focal point of both reform and research efforts in mathematics education. Understanding and using algebra is dependent on understanding a number of fundamental concepts, one of which is the concept of…

T-algebra is a project for creating an interactive learning environment for expression manipulation tasks of elementary algebra. Our main didactical principle has been that all the necessary decisions and calculations at each solution step should be made by the student, and the program should be able to understand the mistakes. This paper…

Using symbolic algebra to represent and solve linear equations is one of the expectations within the "Algebra" content standard for the 6-8-grade band in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics" (2000). Students' understanding of these concepts, even before a formal algebra course,…

Although the myth of public education as the "great equalizer" is alive and well in the minds of many, the reality is that the notion of public schools as the savior of the less fortunate is fundamentally compromised when institutional decision making does more to suppress low-income and minority students through low expectations…