This study examined how word-problem characteristics influenced students' learning and retention of word-problem knowledge during and after an intervention. The participants were 221 fourth-grade students (average age at pretest = 8.8 years) who experienced word-problem difficulties (WPD) and had received a word-problem intervention in third…

This research addresses the issue of how to support students' representational fluency--the ability to create, move within, translate across, and derive meaning from external representations of mathematical ideas. The context of solving linear equations in a combined computer algebra system (CAS) and paper-and-pencil classroom environment is…

Linear functions are an important part of the middle school mathematics curriculum. Students in the middle grades gain fluency by working with linear functions in a variety of representations (NCTM 2001). Presented in this article is an activity that was used with five eighth-grade classes at three different schools. The activity contains 15 cards…

This article presents a designed learning environment intended to engage students in learning about the relationships among multiple representations as they work together on a shared task. Over the course of several extended problem-solving sessions, groups developed several successive alignments of participants and representations as they learned…

Presents five simulation models reflecting sequential levels of children's simple arithmetic story problem solving skills. Outputs of the models are compared with data obtained by presenting 60 five- to eight-year-olds with change problems to examine models' deterministic nature. Results indicate the models give an adequate description of behavior…

Local, state, and national professional organizations have endorsed problem solving as the most important outcome to be achieved in a K-12 mathematics program. This booklet illustrates some ways to teach different problem solving strategies to elementary school students. It concentrates on methods involving: (1) working background; (2) using a…

Developed as part of the ABCs of Construction National Workplace Literacy Project, this instructional module is designed to help individuals employed as pipefitters learn to solve problems with charts and tables. Outlined in the first section is a five-step procedure for solving problems involving tables and/or charts: identifying the question to…

Describes a pilot study of computerized adaptive testing in the Michigan Educational Assessment Program's tenth-grade mathematics problem-solving and applications subtests. Comparisons are made to pencil-and-paper tests, and student reactions as determined by a posttest survey are discussed. (LRW)

This study looked at the effect of contextual advisement and competition on transfer of mathematics skills in a computer-based instructional simulation game and simulation in which game participants helped their "aunt and uncle" fix up a house. Competition referred to whether or not the participant was playing against a computer…

Developed by the ABCs of Construction National Workplace Literacy Project, these curriculum materials for the area of electrical and instrumentation contain a lesson that deals with reading charts and tables. The lesson consists of an objective, instruction, and 10 exercises. Three types of problems are provided in each exercise: "try…

Developed by the ABCs of Construction National Workplace Literacy Project, these curriculum materials for the area of electrical and instrumentation contain a lesson that deals with problem solving using charts and tables. The lesson consists of an objective, instruction, and 10 exercises. The objective for the lesson is for the student to learn…

Developed by the ABCs of Construction National Workplace Literacy Project, these curriculum materials for the occupational area of millwright contain a lesson that deals with reading charts and tables. The lesson consists of an objective, instruction, and 10 exercises. Three types of problems are provided in each exercise: "try…

Developed by the ABCs of Construction National Workplace Literacy Project, these curriculum materials for the occupational area of millwright contain a lesson that deals with problem solving using charts and tables. The lesson consists of an objective, instruction, and eight exercises. The objective for the lesson is for the student to learn to…

Developed by the ABCs of Construction National Workplace Literacy Project, these curriculum materials for the occupational area of pipefitting contain a lesson that deals with reading charts and graphs. The lesson consists of an objective, instruction, and seven exercises. Three types of problems are provided in each exercise: "try…

Describes a unit designed to integrate mathematics with other curriculum areas by drawing on real-life situations. This unit incorporates nutrition, calculators, and graphing skills to classify items from a grocery receipt and represent the amounts of money spent on each category in different graphs. (MDH)