Presents a series of lessons that extend the concrete experiences many elementary students have had with attribute blocks to provide middle school students with informal opportunities to explore the concepts and properties of relations and functions. (DDR)

Presents an activity in which students experience a scatterplot as a visual and kinesthetic tool for discovering patterns among variables and making predictions based on those patterns. Bridges the gap between algebraic and statistical graphs. (DDR)

Details six activities that utilize data contained in a telephone book. Topics include data display, fractional numeracy, random art, estimation, and probability. Contains a summary and extension activities, some of which focus on permutations and combinations. (DDR)

Describes a popular yearly activity at one middle school in which a production of a Shakespearean comedy becomes the centerpiece of an interdisciplinary unit on the Elizabethan Period involving language arts, social studies, math, science, music, art, technical education, home economics, and the learning center. (SR)

Uses case study data from two British schools for grades 9 through 11 (160 students and 109 students) to show the way in which girls link their mathematics underachievement not to themselves but to the type of mathematics that is commonly taught in the United Kingdom, which they believe denies them access to understanding. (SLD)

The focus of this study was on the effects of relevance in instructional context and reasoning complexity on mathematics problem solving achievement, transfer, and attitude for fifth graders. Results suggest that rich mathematical instructional contexts best support mathematics problem-solving, but simple, decontextualized instruction yields the…

Presents a small group activity that helps elementary students explore volume as part of the math curriculum. Collecting data through hands-on experimentation; analyzing the data; and using graphs and graphing software to further understanding are discussed. (LRW)

Examined effects of self-regulatory teaching approach in a computer context on mathematics learning of at-risk preschoolers. Found that computer-based contexts provided at-risk children with an effective context for learning mathematics and that enhancing that context with a self-regulatory teaching emphasis resulted in significantly increased…

Fourteen word problems, half of which were problematic from a realistic point of view, were administered to 332 Belgian preservice elementary school teachers who also saw answers given by 4 students. Results revealed a strong tendency to exclude real-world knowledge from spontaneous solutions and appreciations of student-supplied answers. (SLD)

Driven by Goals 2000 legislation, partnerships involving schools, businesses, and universities are preparing students for technically sophisticated workplaces. The Kids at Work project initiated by Project SMART (Science/Mathematics Applied Resources for Teaching) is a New York State validated approach to improving elementary math and science…

Four "fables" from the perspectives of four university collaborators describe the transformation of the original Mathematics and Science Collaborative Project (University of New Hampshire and four Durham, New Hampshire, middle and high schools) as its participants and leaders tried to balance the demands of an externally funded project…

Six classes received problem-centered mathematics instruction for two years in second and third grade. Results indicate that students in these classes scored significantly higher than students in traditional classes on standardized measures of computational proficiency and conceptual understanding. (TO)

Describes a two-year study of preservice mathematics teachers, that investigated how National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards and other reform agendas impacted their thinking and practice. Findings indicated that the preservice teachers affirmed the standards' goals, content, and recommendations, though they felt they lacked…

A cooperative learning approach in business administration courses is described, including projects and activities for three course types: management science; operations management; and mathematics education. Adaptation of the activities for specific classes is discussed, and student response to the method in one institution is examined. The…

Describes an innovative approach, for fourth graders who were reviewing mathematics for the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test, called the TAAS Olympics. Provides guidelines for the program format, preparation, team creation, and score keeping. Highlights specific skills transferable between the games and test taking. (SD)