Discusses problem posing as a feature of creative activity or exceptional mathematical ability, inquiry-oriented instruction, mathematical activity, improving students' problem solving, a window into students' mathematical understanding, and improving students' disposition toward mathematics. (Contains 70 references.) (MKR)

This article presents a graduated word problem sequence in mathematics, beginning with simple words; progressing to phrases, sentences, and paragraphs; advancing to paragraph word problems with extraneous information; and finally having students create their own word problems. Results from 67 elementary students with learning disabilities support…

Proposes a perspective on mathematical symbolism as a communication and conceptualization tool. Describes research in which first graders, solving mathematical problems in small groups, invented symbolic representations as both a part of the knowledge construction process and a means of communicating their conceptualizations to each other. (SV)

Describes the PACKETS Program for Middle School Mathematics, a research-based performance-assessment program being developed by the Educational Testing Service. The activities, based on real-life problems whose solutions must address a particular client's needs, are designed to promote student learning while allowing the teacher to document this…

Describes a project implemented in a second-grade class that is based on a child-centered, problem-solving approach to connecting literature and writing with mathematics. Emphasizes data exploration by having students collect, record, interpret, and analyze data on eggs. Contains 11 references. (ASK)

Presents a process model developed for interaction and mathematical level raising focusing on the individual learning process and relates this model to research. The model is meant to show how level raising can be realized by allowing students to work in small groups on a mathematical problem. Contains 24 references. (Author/ASK)

This study investigated the effectiveness of a schema strategy on the mathematical word-problem-solving performance of four sixth- and seventh-grade students with learning disabilities. The schema strategy led to substantially improved word-problem-solving performance for all four students and these results were maintained at two- and four-week…

Three teaching strategies for problem solving proved to be successful with undergraduates with deafness enrolled in mathematics courses. Strategies included giving an explanation to a peer observer in sign language, visualizing the problem-solving process prior to starting to solve a problem, and observing the teacher modeling the analytical…

Describes a problem-solving-oriented teacher-inservice program designed to provide opportunities that allow elementary teachers to focus on personal experience as a way of achieving self-understanding and a way of reconstructing their personal meanings about problem solving and problem-solving instruction. Concludes that the program had positive…

Describes how teachers of the gifted can make the study of mathematics dynamic, innovative, and creative through the exploration of problem-solving skills and real-life applications. Math competitions and general academic competitions that include mathematics for elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools are highlighted. (CR)

This article summarizes goals for mathematics achievement for all students and proposes a key model for teaching math to students at-risk of failure. The six teeth of the key are labeled: meaningful, explicit, informal, (de)situational, social, and teacher-specific. The lock pins are engagement, foundations, institutions, transfer, cultural…

Presents innovative, multiple intelligence math practices that can boost student learning and promote fun in the classroom. Suggestions include doing picture book math, working on open-ended problems, doing math all day and everywhere, and working on cooperative group math. (SM)

Reports results from research that developed and applied a content analysis instrument to measure the content of 12 middle school mathematics teachers' tests and quizzes. Results shed light on content and methods and on "enacted" curriculum. One finding is the large preponderance of single-path/ single-solution problems related to number…

Discussion of transfer capability focuses on a study of secondary education students in the Netherlands that investigated transfer in mathematics education. Describes the construction of a computer-assisted program based on strengthening the connection of strategic and domain specific knowledge and offering hints during teaching as well as during…

Four middle school students with learning disabilities and low mathematics performance received schema strategy training in problem schemata (conceptual understanding) and problem solution (procedural understanding). Results indicated that the schema-based strategy was effective in substantially increasing the number of correctly solved word…