This publication focuses mainly on research designed to improve adolescents learning of mathematics. Sometimes it provides insights into interventions to help all students learn more mathematics and sometimes special interventions that focus on the particular needs of nonproficient mathematics students. However, no intervention should diminish the…

Professional educators demand that their methods and instructional resources be soundly based on research and theory. From its origins nearly 40 years ago, the PLATO[R] system has built the largest base of basic research on computer-based learning in the field. Beginning with research funded by the National Science Foundation and conducted at the…

This teaching unit is designed to help students in grades 4-8 explore the concepts of geometry and measurement in the context of surveying planets. The units in this series have been developed to enhance and enrich mathematics, science, and technology education and to accommodate different teaching and learning styles. Each unit consists of a…

This digest provides an overview of nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD) along with principles for designing and implementing instructional interventions to address its effects. It begins by explaining characteristics of students with NLD, including their tendency to focus on details rather than on the larger picture, the difficulties they may…

This paper presents the idea of multimodal teaching and learning and discusses how this perspective can help better understand the learning of students. The discussion is based on data gathered in a qualitative study of a fifth-grade bilingual classroom where at-risk students were successful in mathematics. We report on one class episode and one…

This paper provides an analysis of a teacher development experiment (cf. Simon, 2000) designed to support teachers' understandings of statistical data analysis. The experiment was conducted as part of collaborative efforts between the author and a cohort of middle-school mathematics teachers during the 2000-2001 academic year. Analysis of the…

This paper reports early work from a project examining the affordances offered by Interactive Whiteboards (IWBs). Here the focus is on the teaching of the definition of quadrilaterals through the use of Cabri Geometre. We discuss the work of two 11-year-old children, who are exploring the kite. The protocol highlights the complexities inherent in…

In the research conducted, the relationship between teaching complexity and children's mathematical thinking was investigated in 4 "reform" classes and 1 conventional elementary class (7-8 years). Forty lessons were analyzed for the type of teaching and children's mathematical thinking revealed during class discussion. The results indicate…

A study was conducted with forty-seven preservice childhood (elementary) education teachers (42 F, 5 M) enrolled in two mathematics methods classes taught by the same instructor to determine the effect of these college students making curriculum materials appropriate for upper elementary students on the preservice teachers' knowledge of…

This review of the literature investigates ways to apply student-centered math activities in fifth grade standards-based curriculum. My goal for this project is to discover and share several ideas about how to effectively implement student-centered math activities within the standards-based curriculum requirements that dominate today's public…

"The Carrot Highway" is a 40-minute award-winning videotape that takes viewers on a whirlwind tour around the world to tell the story of the carrot. This videotape reveals the carrot in all its glory by cleverly integrating live-action, music, animation, videotape footage, and games. Viewers travel with a troupe of animated carrot characters to…

This study compares the effects of two models of vocabulary instruction: (1) the integrated graphic organizer/discussion model; and (2) the definition-only model on the mathematical vocabulary use of fourth grade students. The integrated model combines a modified Concept of Definition (CD) graphic organizer with the Frayer discussion model. The…

This book describes classroom uses for teachers' and children's own stories, as well as stories from a multitude of outside sources. It offers a theoretical basis for the use of storytelling, gives practical tips on storytelling techniques, and provides practical storytelling activities for use across the curriculum in kindergarten through high…

Cross-national studies in mathematics have consistently reported that U.S. students do not perform as well as Asian students on tasks requiring the application of mathematical knowledge and skills routinely learned in school. Recent studies have shown, however, that for tasks assessing relatively novel and complex problem solving, performance…

The fastest-growing sector of the American school population is the limited English proficient (LEP) students, those students whose native language is not English. When mainstreamed they are usually enrolled in physical education, art, and music classes first. The students then enter mathematics classes under the assumption that mathematics is…