The purpose of this article is to elaborate Cottrill et al.'s (1996) conceptual framework of limit, an explanatory model of how students might come to understand the limit concept. Drawing on a retrospective analysis of 2 teaching experiments, we propose 2 theoretical constructs to account for the students' success in formulating and understanding…

After a year of instruction, 70 kindergarten children were individually interviewed as they solved basic, multistep, and nonroutine word problems. Thirty-two used a valid strategy for all 9 problems, and 44 correctly answered 7 or more problems. Modeling provided a unifying framework for thinking about problem solving. (Author/MDH)

An outline of a model that provides a new perspective on the conceptual foundations of mathematics and a new approach for the study of children's acquisition of numerical operations is proposed. Attention is viewed as a pulse-like succession of moments and is supported by recent data from neurophysiology. (MP)

The subjects were 47 first-grade children from three classrooms in a Lexington, Kentucky public school. Results indicate that the position of the unknown set in a verbal problem substantially determines whether or not a problem can be modeled successfully by children of this age. (MP)

Investigates the calculation strategies used by female students in Grades Two and Three to solve word problems. Findings indicate that students used three main intuitive models: (1) direct counting; (2) repeated addition; and (3) multiplicative operation. Concludes that children acquire an expanding repertoire of intuitive models and the model…

An eight-phase model of processes involved in mathematics problem solving is presented. At each phase, results from factor-analytic studies are used to suggest abilities relevant and prerequisite for successful completion of the phase. Presentation of the model is followed by a discussion of implications for teaching and research. (Author/MK)

Computational estimation is viewed as perhaps the most neglected skill area in the mathematics curriculum. Results of interviews led to the formulation of a model of the common characteristics of good estimators. The hope is expressed that the key processes and strategies identified in the investigation will be studied carefully. (MP)

This investigation: (a) assesses developmental differences in children's estimation skills through normative data on performance on a variety of problems; (b) assesses validity of a proposed estimation model on the basis of children's performance; and (c) suggests modifications of the model as a guide to further research. (MP)

A model is proposed in which the quantification of inverse proportionality is developed beyond the initial qualitative relation. Based on a task analysis, the model was tested with 36 eleven-year-old students in a training experiment using a balance task. (MNS)

The learning of mathematics is presented as a cognitive process rather than as a behavioristic one. A generative model of mathematics learning is described. Learning with understanding can occur with discovery or reception treatments. Relevant empirical research is discussed and implications for teaching mathematics as a generative process are…

Mastering the basic number combinations involves discovering, labeling, and internalizing relationships, not merely drill-based memorization. Counting procedures and thinking strategies are components, and it may be that using stored procedures, rules, or principles to quickly construct combinations is cognitively more economical than relying…

The author first corrects Baroody's description of the network retrieval model for basic number facts, in which facts are stored in memory and retrieved as needed. He then indicates weaknesses in Baroody's argument. (MNS)

A model of subtraction development and the computing difficulties and research issues suggested by the model are outlined. Demands of simultaneous processes, difficulties with informal subtraction, and the impact on the counting-up procedure are discussed. (MNS)