The Mathematics students who perform truth-seeking process upon solving mathematical problems were unique. Therefore, the study deems it necessary to know students' mental structure and mechanism so that they can make the right decision by performing truth-seeking. However, no research has delved into the mental structures and mechanisms of…

Cognitive scientists investigate mental models (how humans organize and structure knowledge in their minds) so as to understand human understanding of and interactions with the world. Cognitive and mental model research is concerned with internal conceptual systems that are not easily or directly observable. The goal of this research was to…

In an effort to examine the impact of the changes being made at San Jose State University (California) in the calculus curriculum, multiple measures were collected and analyzed. This study focuses on the relationship between performance on a pretest and the class grade. Through written responses on the pretest, a belief and knowledge profile for…

This study examined how engaging calculus students in Writing to Learn Mathematics affected the types of conceptual and procedural errors that the students made on their examinations. Students in two sections of an introductory college calculus course in Fall 1994 were the respondents in this study. A classification system was developed that…

A factor analysis study provided empirical evidence of the validity of the modified Mathematics Self-Efficacy Scale (MSES) and its three subscales: mathematics problems self-efficacy, mathematics tasks self-efficacy, and college courses self-efficacy. The MSES was administered to 522 undergraduate students from three state universities and…

Studied were the misconceptions that preservice elementary teachers have about multiplication and division. Results indicated that they are influenced by the same primitive models as students; the most common errors made by both groups are quite similar. (MNS)

Recent research has focused on how prospective teachers formulate beliefs related to teaching and learning mathematics and science. This paper examines the use of videotaped mathematics and science lesson segments to aid in the description or identification of initial belief structures of prospective elementary school teachers. Using a…