In recent years the use of expert judgement to set and maintain examination standards has been increasingly criticised in favour of approaches based on statistical modelling. This paper reviews existing research on this controversy and attempts to unify the evidence within a framework where expertise is utilised in the form of comparative…

To meet the demand of the incoming school curriculum reform focusing on competency-based learning in Vietnam, this paper reports on an innovation project on developing secondary mathematics preservice teachers' (PSTs) mathematical literacy and preparing them to teach mathematics contextually. We developed a curriculum and studied the effectiveness…

The senior school Mathematics syllabus is often restricted to the study of single variable differential equations of the first order. Unfortunately most real life examples do not follow such types of relations. In addition, very few differential equations in real life have exact solutions that can be expressed in finite terms. Even if the solution…

Modelling of statistical data is a well established analytical strategy. Statistical data can be modelled to represent, and thereby predict, the forces acting upon a structure or system. For the rapidly changing systems in the world of education, modelling enables the researcher to understand, to predict and to enable decisions to be based upon…

Examines the impact of a school-based assessment system on the implementation of an applications/modeling-based curriculum at the senior secondary level. The persistence of high task scaffolding in assessment tasks throughout the course and the concerns of teachers about the reliability and ownership of assessment in unsupervised conditions…

Discusses the role of context problems as they are used in the Dutch approach known as realistic mathematics education (RME). Uses an RME design for a calculus course to illustrate that theory based on the design heuristic using context problems and modeling, which was developed for primary school mathematics, also fits advanced topics such as…

Correlated Factors Modeling (CFM) is proposed as an alternative to LISREL and similar methods of estimating structural equations. CFM employs weak mathematics and is appropriate for a rapid, preliminary look at a model. The factors produced by CFM are exact linear components of their indicator variates. (Author/GDC)

Compares secondary and junior schools' influence on (British) 16 year-olds' performance on the General Certificate in Secondary Education examination. Presents a mathematical model to explain performance variations, using a cohort of 758 students in 48 junior schools and 116 secondary schools. There is a strong continuity of junior school effects…

Based on data from 411 Filipino secondary school students, the hypothesis was tested that press for achievement from parents, peers, and teachers mediates the relationship between school grades from one year to the next. No support was found for this contention after linear and curvilinear regression models were examined. (Author/LMO)

Analyzes the results of a Mexican/British project that used the sociocultural approach to investigate ways in which mathematics is used in the practice of school science and the role of spreadsheets as a mathematical modeling tool. Suggests the possibility of enhancing students' capability to shift between a wider range of representations using…

A systematic method for compromise between absolute and relative examination standards is proposed. The passing score is assumed to be related to expected pass rate through a simple linear function. Results define a function relating the percentage of successful candidates given a specified passing score to the passing score. (Author/DWH)

This paper is concerned with the role of spreadsheets as a tool for the development of mathematical models in science, one aspect of a collaborative project which worked with two groups of pre-university students from Mexico and the United Kingdom. The purpose of the modeling activities designed was to engage students in creating an…

Examines the importance of declining economic conditions in school attendance decision making for households with teenagers aged 12-17 in Costa Rica, using a reduced-form model. The 1981-83 economic recession coincided with a large attendance drop. Household labor market characteristics and student characteristics also significantly determine…

After a review of the disadvantages of linear models for estimating the probability of academic success from previous school records and admission test results, the use of a probit model is proposed. The model is illustrated with admissions data from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales in Montreal. (Author/BW)

Addresses the observed actions of prospective Swedish mathematics teachers as they worked with a modeling situation. Explores prospective teachers' preparation to teach in grades 4-12 during a course of mathematical modeling. Focuses on preservice teachers' understanding of modeling and how they relate mathematical models to the real world.…