Annotates 16 World Wide Web (WWW) sites dealing with math and science education matters covered in feature articles for this journal issue. Topics include math fairs, classroom restructuring, and hands-on science. (JW)

Chinese and American kindergarten children were given a test of addition skills, a numerical memory span measure, and an addition strategy assessment. When unable to retrieve an addition fact from memory, Chinese children counted verbally, whereas American children used finger counting or guessed. This difference appeared to be related to a…

Explores the role of language and the related linguistic skills (oracy) in traditional, indigenous African education, addressing the role and nature of proverbs, riddles, word games, arithmetic puzzles, dilemma tales, and fables, myths, and legends as well as the use of praise songs and praise poems in traditional African communities. (Author/SM)

Discusses children's design of mathematical representations on paper. Suggests that the design of displays during problem solving shapes one's mathematical activity and sense making in crucial ways, and that knowledge of mathematical representations is not simply recalled and applied to problem solving, but also emerges out of one's interactions…

Elementary education students (n=141) were asked to estimate answers to 25 arithmetic problems. Half were presented the problems in an application (word problem) format, and the other half received the same problems in a computational format. Results indicated higher success levels with the applied format which is contradictory to previous results…

A series of four activities are presented to enhance students' abilities to appreciate and use trigonometry as a tool in problem solving. Activities cover problems applying the law of sines, the law of cosines, and matching equivalent trigonometric expressions. A teacher's guide, worksheets, and answers are provided. (MDH)

This book excerpt presents several learning activity ideas related to negotiating. Students review principles of negotiation, write about their experiences negotiating, learn about body language, find historical examples of good negotiators, practice mathematics skills in negotiating spending money for a trip, and examine the impact of humanity's…

Provides the instructions to build a homemade calculator that can be used as a reinforcement device to assist primary students in memorizing their addition facts. (MDH)

Raises and responds to questions about what and how to teach mathematics with the availability of calculators to all students. Discusses whether students need basic facts, mechanical skills, and knowledge of computational algorithms. Argues that students need to develop number sense and analytical skills using simple, symbolic, and graphing…

Predictions from the internal/external frame of reference model of H. W. Marsh (1986) and gender differences in the structure of academic self-concept were examined through path analyses of data from 231 Norwegian sixth graders (117 males and 114 females). Implications for the study of academic self-concept are discussed. (SLD)

Presented are 44 examples in which students are invited to guess what pattern of numbers is emerging and to decide whether the pattern will persist. Topics of examples include Pascal's triangle, integers, vertices, Fibonacci numbers, power series, partition functions, and Euler's theorem. The answers to all problems are included. (KR)

Undergraduate students in the physical sciences can benefit from widespread availability of microcomputers and their link with numerical methods. Presented are examples of evaluating various transcendental mathematical functions, using numerical methods that emphasize the development of critical thinking skills and practical numerical techniques…

The sign-chart method is often used to solve polynomial inequalities involving products or quotients. Presented are examples that extend this method to solve higher-degree polynomial, radical, exponential, logarithmic, absolute-value, and trigonometric inequalities and whose graphic representations lead to intuitive discussions of continuity. (MDH)

Quantitative literacy for students with deafness is addressed, noting work by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics to establish curriculum standards for grades K-12. The standards stress problem solving, communication, reasoning, making mathematical connections, and the need for educators of the deaf to pursue mathematics literacy with…

Subjects forced to process redundant material or split their attention between multiple sources of information may encounter extraneous cognitive load. Results of 4 experiments involving 125 fourth graders in Sydney (Australia) provide evidence for the inadequacy of conventionally formatted instructional materials and emphasize debilitating…