Reports on how a school-university partnership used Virginia's Public Education Network to help third graders learn about metamorphosis in insects and the scientific method of experimentation, observation, and data collection. (MKR)

Discusses ways teachers can encourage students to construct useful meanings for the fractional unit. Provides three examples of representations of common fractions and illustrates misconceptions in fraction problems. Includes a brief summary of constructivist mathematics education and an example in which a teacher misunderstands a fractional unit.…

Describes the use of geometry now by a U.S. Department of Defense quality assurance representative and in ancient times by the Egyptians and Babylonians. Includes reproducible student worksheets on quality assurance. (MKR)

As part of a cross-disciplinary project to develop interactive, multimedia college instruction, a mathematics team developed a hypertext version of an existing textbook and created seven modules in basic calculus. Lessons and principles learned about courseware development are presented here to help faculty without previous software experience to…

Proposes analogy as the central mechanism of knowledge acquisition in formal domains. Discusses experimental data on preschoolers' knowledge of one-to-one correspondence and college students' understanding of force decomposition. Suggests that a knowledge base domain is a thematically organized knowledge structure and that thematic relations in a…

Writing during math supports students' learning as they clarify their ideas and highlight what they understand. This article presents math and writing strategies, answers to common questions, various math writing assignments, and math activities that lead to writing. (SM)

Comparison of U.S. and Chinese middle school mathematics programs found lower intensity in U.S. schools because of extensive drill, repetition of content, lack of challenging problem solving, lower expectations, and ability grouping. China utilizes challenging problem solving, no repetition, and high expectations and values. (22 references)…

Surveys of mathematics department chairpersons about changes in algebra instructional practices in response to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Curriculum and Evaluation Standards showed wide variation across schools. Contains survey questions on practices in algebra and a bibliography of first-year algebra textbooks. (12…

Two fourth-grade classes served in a study that employed computers for promoting autonomous learning processes through solving challenging problems adapted to students' aptitudes using the number line as an intuitive model. Findings showed that students have preinstructional intuitions and informal knowledge of negative numbers. (24 references)…

Analyzes two aspects of teachers' planned presentations of subject matter (knowledge about subject matter and knowledge about students); illustrates using functions and undefined mathematical operations; and discusses the interconnectedness of subject-matter knowledge, knowledge about students, and knowledge about ways of presenting subject…

Presents 2 mathematical projects involving (n=25) fourth-grade and (n=26) sixth-grade students' concept mapping (on fractions and on geometry) that allowed monitoring of students' individual understanding over time and provided information about students' conceptual understanding. (37 references) (Author/MKR)

Examines characteristics of interactive video and microcomputer technology that are useful in the design and development of instructional modules for precalculus, especially for minority groups that have traditionally been underrepresented in math and science. Theoretical design principles are discussed, and examples for use in secondary schools…

This article outlines the last step in a five-step process for preparing students to engage in a systematic mathematics problem-solving and decision-making process. The lesson plan teaches students to reread the problem, reexamine the question, check selection of operation, and recheck calculations and compare answers. (JDD)

Presents a three-phase process that connects writing and cooperative problem solving to each other and to mathematical skills and concepts. The three phases are: (1) writing to communicate mathematics; (2) cooperative learning; and (3) problem solving. Provides examples illustrating each phase. (MDH)

Presents four cases of real-world probabilistic situations to promote more effective teaching of probability. Calculates the probability of obtaining six of six different prizes successively in six, seven, eight, and nine boxes of cereal, generalizes the problem to n boxes of cereal, and offers suggestions to extend the problem. (MDH)