This study examined relationships between mathematical learning difficulties (MLD) and the planning, attention, simultaneous, successive (PASS) theory of cognitive processing. PASS processes were assessed in 267 Dutch students with MLD. Results indicated students with MLD performed lower than peers on all "Cognitive Assessment System"…

This article considers 3 claims that cognitive sex differences account for the differential representation of men and women in high-level careers in mathematics and science: (a) males are more focused on objects from the beginning of life and therefore are predisposed to better learning about mechanical systems; (b) males have a profile of spatial…

Number sense, an integral part of the curriculum in primary school mathematics, has always been thought of as playing a major role in pupils' understanding and use of numbers in calculation. Research in number sense has been carried out in the West, as well as in Malaysia. That a study of such a nature be done to reflect on the abilities of…

"Quantitative-oriented" students of French have been found to display a propensity for formal rules of grammar in university-level French language classes, which departs significantly from that of "letters-oriented" students. "Quantitative-oriented" students include mathematics, commerce, science and engineering…

The 51st meeting of the Commission Internationale pour L'Etude et L'Amelioration de L'Ensignment des Mathematiques (CIEAEM) was held July, 1999 at Chichester, UK and facilitated the collaboration of delegates from over 30 countries providing a variety of perspectives on the theme OCultural Diversity in Mathematics Education'. The papers in this…

Presents the results of a case study which looked at the mathematics classroom of one teacher trying to teach mathematics with meaning to pupils or lower ability at the secondary level. Contrasts methods of teaching linear equations to a variety of ability levels and uses the Pirie-Kieren model to account for the successful growth in understanding…

Presents to second graders the concept of an n-gon, characterized by a commutative diagram which is composed of four ways of judging a given figure. Observes that some children gave persuading arguments containing a critical idea and the concept formation corresponding to a structure-preserved transformation in the diagram. (AIM)

Tested path models of academic interest and performance that were derived from social-cognitive theory. Results supported a model in which ability helps determine self-efficacy. Findings suggest that social-cognitive theory helps explain the academic behavior of high school students that can be key to their later career options. (RJM)

A structural model exploring relationships between ability, beliefs about mathematics, and achievement in remedial college mathematics is presented. In this study (n=236 students), previous mathematics skills were significantly related to beliefs, but beliefs were unrelated to final course grade for males. Conversely, beliefs about mathematics…

Examined the long-term effects of ability-grouped mathematics classes on 1,139 seventh-graders who participated in the Michigan Study of Adolescent Life Transitions. The results revealed some negative and no positive correlates at the tenth-grade level for low-ability students placed in low-ability classrooms, compared with their peers placed in…

Contextualizes the mathematical intelligence as revealed in the human tendencies, as supported by the extended family, and facilitated by choice within a responsive environment. Reviews the function of Montessori materials, including mathematical materials, and emphasizes that the personal intelligences are integral to all activities simply…

Describes a teaching method that employs a variety of techniques--including psychology--to reduce math anxiety in basic skills math classes. States that when these types of efforts were made to reduce math anxiety, students received more satisfactory grades and fewer repeats and unsatisfactories. (NB)

Performance of 210 2nd graders in different areas of mathematical cognition was examined. Children were divided into 4 achievement groups. Although children with difficulties in mathematics performed worse than normally achieving groups in most areas of mathematical cognition, those with difficulty only in mathematics showed an advantage over the…

Reinterprets Betts and Shkolnick's results in an article appearing in this "EER" issue. The data do not allow accurate classification of tracked and untracked classrooms. There appears to be little difference in student performance and resource allocation between schools that formally and informally group students by ability. (MLH)

Background: Students' self-concepts play an important role in explaining achievement-related behaviour. According to the internal/external frame of reference model (I/E Model), students use two frames of reference to form their mathematical and verbal self-concepts. The model predicts that external comparisons will lead to a positive association,…