Outlines one teacher's questioning of the understanding of computational processes by her students in mathematics class. Points out the importance of teaching the context of meaning and its application in mathematics. (MD)

Describes two cases where an elementary school teacher's behavior influenced a student to either pursue or avoid math. Reviews the tenets of attribution theory, and theories regarding autonomous learning behaviors in relation to these cases. Discusses ways teachers can help students develop beneficial and useful attributions about mathematics…

Considers the reasons that mathematical word problems are particularly difficult for remedial students. Describes the use of language-oriented teaching techniques in helping students to understand and solve word problems and to recognize that English and mathematics are two overlapping language systems. (PAA)

The authors offer the image of our nation as a nautical convoy. Some boats are large, well built, and able to ride out the heaviest of turbulent seas. Others are smaller, but still quite sturdy, and able to survive. Many however, are fragile, meagerly equipped, and easily capsized in rough waters. This convoy is in the midst of a perfect storm…

Reading to learn mathematics forges a new synthesis of the traditional basics of reading and mathematics which aims at fostering critical thinking and may provide an instructional context within which students and teachers can work out meaningful conceptions of mathematics. Benefits of this synthesis of reading and mathematics include: (1)…

Points out that successful mathematical performance depends not only on declarative and procedural content knowledge, but also upon mathematical thinking skills such as problem-schema knowledge, decision-making skills, and metacognitive knowledge. Argues that the growing need for remediation should influence schools' traditional overemphasis on…

This discussion of experimental information retrieval focuses on the mathematical and statistical skills needed by students in librarianship and information studies. Theoretical approaches to document representation, query representation, database searching, and evaluation are reviewed, and changes in library schools' curriculum are suggested.…

Stresses the importance of metacognitive skills (knowledge of one's own cognitive processes) in mathematical performance. Discusses the differences between metacognitive thinking and metacognitive experiences and the ways they each influence performance. Describes how accurate metacognition improves students' mathematical performance, and outlines…

This collection of papers focuses on numeracy education for adults. In a paper entitled "Functional Numeracy," Terry Riley questions the underlying assumptions of functional numeracy and suggests that the term has often been distorted and oversimplified. Margeret Moss, in her paper "The Language of Numeracy," stresses that…

Trends in pre-college philosophy teaching are discussed. Today philosophy, especially at the elementary level, is becoming fashionable. Research has shown that even minimal training in philosophy improves students' reading and mathematical abilities as well as general skills such as reasoning and creativity. A study examining the formal training…