An algorithm is presented to solve multiple assignment problems in which a cost is incurred only when an assignment is made at a given cell. The proposed method recursively searches for single/group absolute points to identify cells that must be loaded in any optimal solution. Unlike other methods, the first solution is the optimal solution. The…

A new national survey of recent public high school graduates shows that approximately 50% of them report gaps in preparation for life after high school. Recent grads say they would have worked harder if they had fully understood the challenges that lay ahead. The research suggests that providing real academic challenge for high school students and…

This program, which provides an introduction to study skills in mathematics for pre-algebra students through a series of 10 activity-oriented units, is structured on the assumption that activity-oriented lessons are the most effective way to teach study skills. By completing activities in the units, students learn about study skills needed for…

This document provides a description of the competitions involved in the Mathematics Olympics held in the Springfield Public Schools (Missouri). It provides descriptions of the team events (which involved a scavenger hunt, computers, and computations) and the individual events (which involved applied geometry, calculators, conversion from ratio to…

This document has been prepared to help teachers and administrators in New York plan and execute a mathematics program for grade eight. The syllabus is designed to improve the problem solving abilities of students, while continuing a natural development of mathematical skills and concepts. Problem solving situations are emphasized in each of seven…

This is a project in an emerging line of research investigating children's informed knowledge of mathematics questions. The purpose of this study was to analyze the ability of students who had not received multiplication or division instruction to solve multiplication and division word problems. The study consisted of videotaped interviews with 89…

Presented is an overview of the 1979 Illinois Inventory of Educational Progress (IIEP) for eleventh-grade mathematics. The IIEP is a systematic effort by the Illinois State Board of Education to collect information on the educational achievement of Illinois students in certain areas and to make that information available to educational…

Examines how teachers' conceptions about teaching mathematics influence the manner in which they plan instruction in mathematical problem solving. Results demonstrate that teachers had a limited knowledge of teaching techniques and that teachers' concerns focused more on collection of materials and resources than on how to teach problem solving.…

This article is reprinted from Mathematics Teacher, in honor of the 100th anniversary. It discusses the role of emotions in mathematics teaching and learning. (Contains 3 endnotes.)

Two experiments demonstrate how individual differences in working memory (WM) impact the strategies used to solve complex math problems and how consequential testing situations alter strategy use. In Experiment 1, individuals performed multistep math problems under low- or high-pressure conditions and reported their problem-solving strategies.…

This article communicates findings from a year-long constructivist teaching experiment about the relationship between four sixth-grade students' multiplicative structures and their construction of improper fractions. Students' multiplicative structures are the units coordinations that they can take as given prior to activity--i.e., the units…

This paper examines the intersection between creativity, problem solving, cognitive psychology and neuroscience in a discussion surrounding the genesis of new ideas and innovative science. Three creative activities are considered. These are (a) the interaction between visual-spatial and analytical or verbal reasoning, (b) attending to feeling in…

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (2000) recommends that students at all grade levels be provided with instructional programs that enable them to "create and use representations to organize, record, and communicate mathematical ideas; select, apply, and translate among mathematical representations to solve problems; and use…

At their final exam in linear algebra students at the author's university were given the possibility to choose between two types of proofs to be done. They could either prove two short statements by themselves or they could explain four steps in a given proof. This paper reports on investigations of students' responses to the choice option…

Many students believe that math is something one learns about, but they do not understand that it is a tool for learning about other concepts. Mathematics is a language used to describe the relationship between objects, events, and time. Learning math requires that a student interacts with a system of symbols just as a person interacts with…