Describes a study that explores the instructional influence of presenting pictures at the molecular level when introducing chemistry concepts and solving chemistry problems. Explores the effect of the pictures on students' conceptions and problem-solving abilities. Contains 59 references. (DDR)

Compares the development of two students' understanding of addition and subtraction. One student's understanding is based on memorized rules and the other's on understanding the concept of place value. Discusses the effects of different goals for instruction and the importance of understanding place value. (MDH)

This article gives a comprehensive description of a theory for efficient assessment of knowledge. The essential concept is that the knowledge state of a subject, with regard to a specified field of information, can be represented by a particular subset of problems that the subject is capable of solving. (SLD)

Presented is a scheduling algorithm that uses all the busses at each step for any rectangular array. Included are two lemmas, proofs, a theorem, the solution, and variations on this problem. (KR)

The objective of this presentation is to focus on the use of a hand-held graphics calculator. The specific machine referred to in this monograph is the Casio fx-7000G, chosen because of its low cost, its large viewing screen, its versatility, and its simple operation. Sections include: (1) "Basic Operations with the Casio fx-7000G"; (2) "Graphical…

This paper describes an educational program developed on the basis that the use of blocks and other manipulatives can be useful both for initial teaching of exchange operations in arithmetic and for remediation of the faulty strategies which very commonly arise during acquisition of written calculation algorithms. This computer program is a…

This document analyzes one chapter of a textbook for college remedial mathematics. This analysis is done by one of the textbook authors. The chapter under discussion deals with fractions. The text authors, writing from a constructivist perspective, attempted to write problems which not only developed specific conceptual and heuristic objectives…

The results of an investigation of the development of children's knowledge of addition and subtraction concepts before they start school are detailed. The purpose of the study was to test the predictions of the three-stage model about the distinctions between the last two stages. Twenty-four children participated in the investigation. None of…

Presents thinking-aloud protocols from secondary pupils solving arithmetic story and geometrical problems and analyzes their protocols by using interpretation models founded on a general problem-solving model. A word problem solving simulation is also used to further explicate processes pupils use to solve mathematical tasks. (Author/MBR)

In the past, algorithm animation has yielded mixed results as a teaching tool in computer science. This article presents a study in which undergraduates at George Washington University (DC) viewed algorithm animations and then programmed the same algorithms. Results suggest that combing the two is an effective way to use animation and to produce…

Describes teaching strategies in which children are encouraged to develop computational procedures that are meaningful to them. Authors state that classroom observation reveals most primary students to be capable of developing their own accurate solution procedures for multi-digit addition and subtraction as well as for simple multiplication and…

Compared and contrasted are the concepts intuition and logic. The ideas of conceptual thought and algorithmic thought are discussed in terms of the world as a labyrinth, intuition and time, and the structure of knowledge. (KR)

Discussed is the effectiveness of using analogies in chemistry instruction. Students' mathematics anxiety, spatial visualization skill, and proportional reasoning ability were found to be important aptitudes for determining chemistry achievement. The relationship between analogs and algorithms is described. (KR)

Described are ideas for the development of problem solving in the context of chemistry. Strategies for improving students' problem solving abilities are included. (KR)

An algorithm is described for generating smooth curves of first-order continuity. The algorithm is composed of several cubic Bezier curves joined together at the user defined control points. Introduced is a tension control parameter which can be set thus providing additional flexibility in the design of free-form curves. (KR)