Questionnaires were completed by 100 parents of kindergarten-age children whom the parents thought to be mathematically precocious. Five factors were found to characterize responses: (1) general intellectual factor; (2) short- and long-term memory; (3) rote memory; (4) spatial reasoning; and (5) specific relational knowledge. Parents were able to…

Presents strategies teachers have developed to provide an authentic use of mathematics that enhances children's autonomy in managing classroom activities, including recording and using data on attendance and choices for interest centers and using mathematics to distribute snack food and utensils. (MKR)

Investigation of the presence and effect of intuitive obstacles to the concept of irrational number in (n=30) ninth-grade, (n=32) tenth-grade, and (n=29) college students found that only some students manifest genuine intuitive biases. Most students were unable to classify numbers as rational, irrational, and/or real. (Author/MKR)

Discusses the problem-solving attempts of second-grade students while solving a rate problem. (MKR)

Discusses research findings that relate to teaching fractions for conceptual understanding. Gives teacher/student dialogues that illustrate the thought processes of students as they form part-whole and improper fraction concepts. (MDH)

Suggests structured investigations as a method of teaching mathematics to preservice elementary school teacher. Presents an example problem that asks students to determine the maximum number of regions that can be created by connecting any two points around the circumference of a circle. (MDH)

Presents three investigations that extend the problem of counting the number of squares on a grid in two dimensions to an analogous problem of counting the number of cubes in a three-dimensional cubic array. (MDH)

A constant time delay procedure was used to teach four adolescents with moderate mental retardation to select lower priced grocery items using an adaptive number line. Students reached criterion, maintained the skill up to 14 weeks after training, and generalized the skill from the classroom to a community grocery store. (Author/DB)

Using the notion of the difference between a number and its cube as a starting point, this article presents a wide range of mathematical activities at varying levels of sophistication utilizing numerical, intuitive, and graphical approaches. (JJK)

Introduces the idea of using computer microworlds--interactive software for exploration of specific concepts--for mathematics education, the theme of this issue's articles. Discusses their development and the advantages of their use. Suggests that they can be successfully used for interactive teaching or for interpreting mathematics textbooks,…

After a brief historical account of Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci, some basic results concerning the Fibonacci numbers are developed and proved, and entertaining examples are described. Connections are made between the Fibonacci numbers and the Golden Ratio, biological nature, and other combinatorics examples. (MDH)

Based on a two-tiered epistemological model (preliminary physical concepts and emerging mathematical concepts), studied the construction of number among 91 kindergarten students in France, Canada, and the United States. Subjects' cognitive numerical structures were surprisingly similar despite differences in language and culture. (SV)

A multisensory program using a counting technique was effective in teaching math skills to three elementary students with mild disabilities. Results showed significant gains in acquisition of target skills as well as maintenance and generalization to novel math problems. (Author/DB)

Simple connections between prime numbers, methods for obtaining prime numbers, characteristics of prime numbers, and the relationship of primes to high order numbers are discussed. (CW)

Six-year-olds from Switzerland (n=30) and Argentina (15 middle- and 15 lower-class) were tested for understanding of inequalities between multidigit numbers and place value. Students could explain size relationships better than place value. The three types of children performed differently. (Contains 30 references.) (JAF)