Presents activities that utilize representations of the side, front, and top views of three-dimensional configurations of blocks to develop spatial-visualization skills and aspects of the concept of function. Provides worksheets of these open-ended investigations. (MDH)

Presents activities to teach the formula for the area of a rectangle that require students to determine the cost of refurbishing their school's tennis courts. Students collect their own data, organize information, and make decisions individually and as a group to solve the problem. Worksheets are provided. (MDH)

Discusses and provides sample lessons of learning by discovery and weekly problem sets, which are presented as alternative methods for teaching college calculus. Both approaches stress conceptual understanding and guide the students to explore the ideas of calculus in small groups in a computer laboratory setting. (JJK)

Presents three features of "Good" questions: requires students to do more than simply remember a strategy to answer; promotes student learning while answering the question; and have several acceptable answers. Considers how questions can be used to cater to the range of student abilities. (MDH)

Presents a gamelike context that provides general-mathematics students the opportunity to explore situations involving chance and develop reasoning about probability. Provides three worksheets for activities that promote components of the NCTM's Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics. (MDH)

The third in a series of 3 articles, a study of 30 students was conducted to test the effect of restructuring a unit on trigonometric identities around microcomputer activities based on the themes of educational undercurrents identified in Part II. Experimental-group students scored significantly higher relating trigonometric functions to their…

Presented is an activity that explores the relationship between the size of a rectangle and the number of squares intersected by a diagonal. Students incorporate pattern recognition and the concept of the greatest common divisor in solving the problem. A sample worksheet is provided. (MDH)

N:4$2 N:4$N Reported are results of a Technical Education Research Centers (TERC) project describing telecommunication interactions between groups of students using the computer software unit "Connectany." Polygons are formed through repetitive "jumps" between points on a circle. Investigation questions and results are shared…

Describes an extra credit science project in which students compete to see who can build the most efficient water rocket out of a two-liter pop bottle. Provides instructions on how to build a demonstration rocket and launching pad. (MDH)

Defines a learning locality as a learning site that has used purposeful pedagogical and methodological efforts to enhance learning, such as zoos and museums. Describes a regional learning locality as one in which children, youth, and adults actively explore their immediate environment. Describes two German regional learning localities, Old Town…

Describes a workshop designed to raise teachers' awareness of potential obstacles to student comprehension of test questions. The article presents the practical problems among the staff that created the workshop, describes the workshop, and presents its limitations and advantages as well as broader implications for issues such as curriculum…

With computer corpora firmly established as research tools in linguistics, their application for language teaching purposes is also increasingly advocated to the extent that corpus-based language teaching has even been praised as the new revolution in language teaching (cf. Sinclair, 2004b). This article takes a more critical view and examines…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Some Math Programs are Out of Tune (Niki…

The Whole Language (WL) approach is sweeping across classrooms in the United States, bringing with it motivating and innovative ways to teach language arts skills to primary school children. With its emphasis on individual discovery, language as a social activity, and diverse "literacy events," the approach employs many techniques that are used in…

This text reviews academic, emotional, motivational, and social learning theories that help children to be their own teachers and teachers to be aware of the advantages of taking charge of one's own learning, rather than depending on teacher education methodology. Learning is described as more than learning facts and figures or directive…