This article describes the authors' attempts to make a college mathematics class more hands-on and interactive. The authors challenge other college mathematics instructors to try similar approaches to enhance the learning and understanding of their students.

A major construction project at a school necessitated the reorganization of nearly the entire building at the end of the school year, a time when teachers are already busy with final exams, grading, and cleaning. To ease the burden for teachers moving to their new rooms and to provide a bit of fun, a school-wide garage sale was held. Unneeded…

The research project will be conducted with a target focus group of six students who have been identified as struggling students in 3rd grade mathematics. The research project will study the effect of using different teaching strategies and methods to increase motivation and focus among these students. The research project will be conducted at…

A series of observations in math classrooms revealed a pervasive problem of "re-teaching". It matters little the subject; before the teacher can begin teaching new material, basic skills often have to be re-taught before the lesson can move forward. Perhaps some methods are more effective than others in the classroom. Consequently, this study…

The purpose of this research was to identify if (1) there is a difference in student achievement between students who use the GeoLeg manipulative tool and students who use a traditional compass, protractor, and ruler on the same geometry unit; (2) there is a difference in student achievement between the genders between those who use the GeoLeg…

The Assessment of Basic Learning Abilities (ABLA) is a tabletop-based protocol employing manipulables that is used to gauge whether individuals with severe developmental disabilities can learn to perform a series of discrimination tasks of varying levels of difficulty. Empirical research suggests that the ABLA is useful in terms of predicting…

This study explored gender differences in the relationship between young people's mathematics attitudes and their perceptions toward virtual manipulatives. Seven hundred eighty junior high school adolescents who participated in the problem-solving activity using virtual manipulatives were selected for examination. The study found the male…

The fourth graders were ready to learn long division; however, their teachers were hesitant to begin the unit--just as they are every year. In a grade-level meeting with the school's math consultant, the teachers voiced their typical concerns. The math consultant was a university mathematics education professor spending a semester of sabbatical…

Manipulatives have been used in many mathematics classrooms across many age groups with the aim of helping students to understand abstract concepts through concrete, kinesthetic, and visual experiences. In this paper, after we provide a background for the use of physical and virtual manipulatives in teaching and learning of mathematics, we will…

When the author began teaching, she always hit a problem when it came to 3D shapes. She wanted the pupils to get a feel for them, and she would get them to make the shapes from their nets. The pupils would first try to visualize how the 2D nets could become 3D shapes and then they would physically fold the nets into the shapes for themselves.…

This study examined the influence of virtual manipulatives on different achievement groups during a teaching experiment in four fifth-grade classrooms. During a two-week unit focusing on two rational number concepts (fraction equivalence and fraction addition with unlike denominators) one low achieving, two average achieving, and one high…

We incorporated clay modeling into gross anatomy and neuro-anatomy courses to help students understand cross-sectional anatomy. By making clay models, cutting them and comparing cut surfaces to CT and MR images, students learned how cross-sectional two-dimensional images were created from three-dimensional structure of human organs. Most students…

Research has shown that an increase in students' interest in science and engineering can have a positive effect on their achievement (Baird, 1986; Eccles & Wigfield, 2002; French, Immekus & Oakes, 2005; Schiefele, Krapp, & Winteler, 1992; Schwartz Bloom & Haplin, 2003; Weinburgh, 1995). Whereas many NSF-funded programs in materials…

Flash cards have been shown to be useful for teaching sight-word reading. To date, the most effective flash-card instruction method is incremental rehearsal (IR). This method involves the instructor interspersing unknown stimulus items into the presentation of known stimulus items. In this study, we compared IR to a modified IR…

Even though there numerous books, articles, research studies, and other publications written since National Council of Teacher of Mathematics (NCTM) published "Curriculum and Evaluation Standards of School Mathematics" in 1989 have advocated the use of manipulatives in the teaching of mathematics, there is no conclusive evidence showing that the…