This project was designed to address gender issues in mathematics education. The author's findings led her to conclude that students construct their own understanding and knowledge as a result of activities in the classroom. Constructivism, a theory of knowledge based on the idea that people construct their own realities by interacting with the…

Most presentations of mathematical ideas are suggested as being backwards from the way they evolved. Two alternatives are discussed, both emphasizing mathematical processes. (MP)

Results from a large-scale study of sixth-form and college students' understanding of elementary calculus and mathematical ideas underlying calculus are presented. Difficulties with speed, tables, linear graphs, curves and differences, the tangent as the limit, and the average rate of change are each discussed. (MNS)