The ability of interlocking polygonal tiles, like those in the "Polydron Frameworks kit," to flex can give rise to polyhedra whose faces don't quite fit. In this article, the author discusses what happens with polyhedra whose faces don't quite fit. (Contains 2 notes.)

Toys in the classroom was the result of a National Science Foundation grant that brought two engineering graduate students to a middle school math class. The graduate students and teachers collaborated in an effort to enhance students' mathematical learning. An engineering context was theorized as a way to further develop students' understanding…

A review of the literature from 1965 to 2008 on tactile maps and models in orientation and mobility yielded four pre-experimental and three experimental articles. The articles were analyzed via best-evidence synthesis--a combined narrative and statistical approach--allowing for recommendations for the most effective use of tactile maps and models.…

A child's demonstration of his conceptual understanding of number bodes well for his future success in school mathematics. As youngsters' thinking becomes more logical, they apply one-to-one correspondence relationships to quantification. Yet, reliable assessment of young children's mathematical ability is difficult because of social and emotional…

Our research aims to identify children's communicative strategies when faced with the task of solving a geometric puzzle in CSCL contexts. We investigated how to identify and trace "distributed cognition" in problem-solving interactions based on discursive cohesion to objects, participants, and prior discursive content, and geometric and…

The reported exploratory study consisted primarily of classroom visits, videotaped sessions, and post-treatment interviews whereby second graders (n = 12) worked on problems in planar geometry, individually and in triads, using physical and virtual manipulatives. The goal of the study was to: 1) characterize the nature of geometric thinking found…

Speakers routinely adjust their behavior upon assessing the information they share in common with their conversational partners, but there remains controversy over when and how these adjustments happen. In this dissertation I address two debates regarding partner-specific adjustments: (a) whether they recruit the language processing system in a…

This article describes how to use clay as a potential material for young children to explore. As teachers, the authors find that their dialogue about the potential of clay as a learning medium raises many questions: (1) What makes clay so enticing? (2) Why are teachers noticing different play and conversation around the clay table as compared to…

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…