Describes how 2 10-year olds developed drawings and numeral systems to symbolize their mental operations while dividing unit bars into thirds and fourths using TIMA: Bars, a computer microworld, as a medium for enacting mathematical actions. The symbolic nature of their partitioning operations was crucial in establishing more conventional…

Studied the sociocultural context in which Brazilian children acquire and use everyday mathematics in terms of currency use. Participants were 105 children, ages 4 to 11, and their parents. Found decreased use of currency with increasing age. Children also used currency to aid their problem solving and progressed from global estimates to the…

Discusses how to make accommodations for special needs students in the music classroom. Focuses on students with reading difficulties, difficulties understanding oral instruction, and mathematical difficulties. Describes using the "LoTTIE" Kit (Low Tech Tools for Inclusive Education), with elementary and secondary students. (CMK)

Presents the results of three experiments in which high school students constructed their own analogous problems. Focuses on utilizing instructional strategies to encourage analogous transfer using word problems in basic probability. Discusses the skills the students who used the analogical strategy could perform. Includes references. (CMK)

Discusses the development of informal mathematics in young children, the problems with formal mathematics instruction, how the traditional approach fails to address mathematics learning disabilities, and how a developmental perspective can assist in the identification and treatment of students with mathematics learning disabilities. (CR)

Describes "Diagnosys," a knowledge-based computer diagnostic test of basic mathematical skills developed in the United Kingdom for university students. Highlights include the need for diagnostic testing; the advantages of a computer-based test; question design; and possible future developments. (Author/LRW)

This study, third in a series using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), demonstrates the usefulness of multidimensional representation of mathematics achievement as it extends analyses through grade 12. Findings support a distinction between mathematical reasoning and knowledge for two of the three test forms.…

Tells stories of children in their first year of school (mostly age five) who were using calculators for the first time. Implications are that children's thinking moves from a rough to a more thorough and refined grasp of the whole. Learning mathematics with calculators is more like the learning of language than traditional classroom mathematics.…

Reviews international academic achievement differences and argues that poor U.S. performance in math reflects curricular focus and teaching deficiencies, not inadequate sampling techniques. Reveals that U.S. student achievement has been weak for decades, suggesting fundamental school reform is warranted. (GR)

Argues against Gerald Bracey's following assertions (1996): (1) U.S. students do far better on international academic comparisons than reported; and (2) the government and popular press have led the country into a false achievement crisis. Suggests that U.S. participation in international studies of this type relies on a strong and independent…

Responds to David Baker's critical essay (1996) concerning G. W. Bracey's arguments that a false academic achievement crisis had been government engineered and that U.S. students were, in fact, comparing well to their international counterparts. Discusses shared issues between L. C. Stedman (1993, 1996) and Baker, and explores data and contentions…

Addresses the issue of comparing U.S. with student academic achievement in other countries and argues that there is cause to be concerned. Reveals a consistently poor academic achievement record for U.S. students that spans 50 years. Such evidence suggests that U.S. schooling and learning are seriously deficient, warranting fundamental reform. (GR)

Presented is an activity that may be used to help students clarify the basics of graphing while allowing individuals to collect data and perform a simple experiment. A timetable, rules for graphing, materials, procedures, and suggestions for extension activities are provided. (CW)

Presents four examples on arithmetic mean and harmonic mean. Provides solution of each of the examples and instructional activities related to the examples. Lists eight references on mathematical problem solving. (YP)

That the principal axis theorem does not extend to any finite field is demonstrated. Presented are four examples that illustrate the difficulty in extending the principal axis theorem to fields other than the field of real numbers. Included are a theorem and proof that uses only a simple counting argument. (KR)