National assessment data on student performance in several phases of algebra are reported. It is noted that this performance has not reached the point of mastery even for most students with two years of algebra and a year of geometry. However, the data are not thought to suggest complete failure. (MP)

Teaching ideas related to the instruction of decimal division as the opposite of multiplication, an approach to approximating logarithms that help reveal their properties, and the simple creation of algebraic equations with radical expressions for use as exercises and test questions are presented. (MP)

Ideas are presented regarding: (1) unique learning activities for students who have difficulty with operations with signed numbers; (2) a mathematical inspection of a unique card trick that can be expressed as an equation; and (3) sketching of graphs of composite trigonometric functions. (MP)

Geometry is revealed as one of the most universal and useful tools in all parts of mathematics, with the idea of a "pure" geometry divorced from algebra an historically recent idea. (MP)

The use of a 25-pin lattice geoboard in a six-week course in middle school geometry is presented, with sample activity cards and test items. Two other ideas discuss the use of algebra in solving verbal problems and teaching negative exponents. (MP)

Ways of using calculators to presents the concept and methodology of concurrent processing are discussed. Several problems that could be used to compare sequential versus concurrent processing are presented. (MK)

Calculator-based activities are presented that may be used as the framework for a unit to replace much of the usual algebra material on exponential functions and logarithms. (MP)

The internal operations of this computer symbolic mathematics system are described in detail in order to explain the accomplishments of the computer. (MP)

A high degree of classroom activity relevant to the lesson content positively influenced achievement in high school algebra lessons. (Editor)

Three problem-solving strategies--working backward from the unknown, forward from the given, and mixed--were applied to interrelated algebra equations. The mixed strategy was most popular and most efficient with grouped variables. Memory load or information-processing load differences among the strategies were evident. (CP)

The article includes a short history of polygonal numbers, a method for finding the root of a polygonal number, and suggestions for using polygonal numbers in the classroom. (MK)

Presented is a derivation for the matrix representation of an arbitrary boost, a Lorentz transformation without rotation, suitable for undergraduate students with modest backgrounds in mathematics and relativity. The derivation uses standard vector and matrix techniques along with the well-known form for a special Lorentz transformation. (BT)

Classroom related topics discussed are: cryptics and statistics; understanding absolute value; recognizing quadratic equations with no real roots; and two derivations of a formula for finding the distance from a point to a line. (MP)

Arguing that the infusion of career information into the student's mainstream curriculum, in this case mathematics courses, both provides the student with information about a wide range of occupational options and enhances the teaching of actual subject matter, the author introduces a series of mathematics texts he has written to enable students…

Directions are given for making a model of a three-dimensional coordinate graph. (DT)