Mastering algebra is important for future math and postsecondary success. Educators will find practical recommendations for how to improve algebra instruction in the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) practice guide, "Teaching Strategies for Improving Algebra Knowledge in Middle and High School Students". The methods and examples included in…

This monograph offers an overview of the current research work carried out in Croatia and the surrounding countries, and specifically an interesting insight in teaching and learning issues in these countries. The authors discuss the need of the general population for becoming good problem-solvers in society of today, which is characterised by…

This call to action is based on a simple but important premise: The nation cannot allow college placement policies, processes, and instruments to undermine promising efforts to increase student success in mathematics and increase attainment of STEM credentials. Efforts to redesign math pathways hold great promise for improving the teaching and…

With research indicating substantial differences among teachers in terms of their effectiveness (Nye, Konstantopoulous, & Hedges, 2004), a major focus of recent research in education has been on improving teacher quality through professional development (Desimone, 2009; Institute of Educations Sciences [IES], 2012; Measures of Effective…

We propose a robust framework for clustering data. In practice, data obtained from real measurement devices can be incomplete, corrupted by gross errors, or not correspond to any assumed model. We show that, by properly harnessing the intrinsic low-dimensional structure of the data, these kinds of practical problems can be dealt with in a uniform…

Early algebraic thinking in a primary context is not about introducing formal algebraic concepts into the classroom but involves reconsidering how one thinks about arithmetic. Early algebraic thinking assists young students to engage effectively with arithmetic in ways that support engagement with arithmetic structure rather than arithmetic as a…

The Poynting vector is an invaluable tool for analysing electromagnetic problems. However, even a rigorous stress-energy tensor approach can still leave us with the question: is it best defined as E x H or as D x B? Typical electromagnetic treatments provide yet another perspective: they regard E x B as the appropriate definition, because E and B…

Achievement goals research has focused on the importance of mastery relative to performance goals, but the multiple goals perspective asserts that performance goals also lead to positive outcomes and that learners adopt multiple goals in adaptive ways. However, this multiple-goals perspective has not been extensively studied in Asian students. The…

Failure rates in first year calculus courses are high in most post-secondary institutions across North America and other parts of the world. This Inukshuk-funded open education project involved the development of five stand-alone pre-calculus learning modules. The design and revision phases of this project occurred between the fall of 2007 and…

Intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) support students in learning a complex problem-solving skill. One feature that makes an ITS architecturally complex, and hard to build, is support for strategy freedom, that is, the ability to let students pursue multiple solution strategies within a given problem. But does greater freedom mean that students…

This quasi-experimental study was designed to research the effects of student attitudes and achievement levels when introduced to learning-style based interventions through the use of homework prescriptions. Success of these interventions was measured through the comparison of test scores for students who received instruction through…

Within the current test-centered educational reform movement, considerable emphasis is placed on using assessment results to make instructional decisions for individual students. Test scores are used to estimate a student's current level of skill, monitor his or her progress during instruction, and identify whether the student has gained the…

The consequences of failing core academic courses during the first year are dire. In Chicago, over a quarter of students fail at least one semester of algebra in their ninth grade year, and only 13% of students who fail both semesters of Algebra I in ninth grade graduate in 4 years. Offering credit recovery options is one strategy to deal with…

Question asking is an important part of the learning process. One of our goals as educators is to encourage students to ask questions that focus on developing conceptual knowledge. To do this, we first need to better understand the factors involved in student question asking. This study looks in depth at one high school mathematics teacher who…

This is the twelfth edition of the Brown Center Report. Part I examines the latest data from state, national, or international assessments. This year the focus is on the latest results from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) released in December, 2012. Part I also…