Explores the role of proof in mathematics education and provides justification for its importance in the curriculum. Discusses three applications of dynamic geometry software--heuristics, exploration, and visualization--as tools in the teaching of proof and as potential challenges to the importance of proof. (Author/MM)

Reports on a long-term teaching experiment carried out in the 9th and 10th grades of a scientific high school as part of a larger research project. Aims to clarify the role of a particular software, Cabri Geometry, in the teaching/learning process. Focuses on the social construction of knowledge. (Author/MM)

Defines synchronous Web-based course support systems as software applications emphasizing features that allow students to meet and interact with one another in a virtual classroom at a specific time. Describes features available that help create a social constructivist learning environment. (LRW)

ArtShow is a digital image database that employs sophisticated features for interactive presentations of data. To demonstrate the program, an example database was prepared, based on the collection at the National Bank of Greece with names, comments and keywords in the Greek language. Discussion includes: the database platform and internal…

Case studies of professional software development practices describe how real (or realistic) projects are planned and executed. Cases provide engaging models of the activities and materials of software development to students and other novice practitioners. They vividly remind learners of the possibilities for meaningfully applying knowledge and…

Thanks to the technological improvements of recent years, distance education represents a real alternative or support to the traditional formative processes. The Internet allows the design of contents, which are able to raise the quality of the traditional formative process. However, the amount of information students can obtain from the Internet…

This study investigated the effects of two computer-implemented techniques (colour and interactive animation) on learning 3D vectors. The participants were 43 female Saudi Arabian high school students. They were pre-tested on 3D vectors using a paper questionnaire that consisted of calculation and visualization types of questions. The students…

A critical issue related to the use of simulation environments in school-based learning is the relationship between the use of these environments and the structure of traditional curricula. Teachers are often caught in the bind of attempting to address significantly raised standards for what all students should know, yet receiving very little…

This article describes a SAS macro to assess model fit of structural equation models by employing a test of the model-implied vanishing tetrads. Use of this test has been limited in the past, in part due to the lack of software that fully automates the test in a user-friendly way. The current SAS macro provides a straightforward method for…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a software package that can be used for performing such routine tasks as controlling listening experiments (e.g., simple labeling, discrimination, sentence intelligibility, and magnitude estimation), recording responses and response latencies, analyzing and plotting the results of those experiments,…

The NCTM curriculum states that students should be able to "compare and contrast the real number system and its various subsystems with regard to their structural characteristics." In evaluating overall conformity to the 1989 standard, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) requires that "teachers must value and encourage the use…

The Wireless Online Tutoring System (WOTS) is a web-based, synchronous groupware system that has been developed to facilitate student collaboration in group projects. It supports interactive and collaborative structured-diagramming and is equipped with group awareness features such as remote cursors, locking, and textbased instant messaging. Users…

In this article, the author describes his experience when Kathy Nichols contacted him seeking suggestions, recommendations--really anything he could think of--that might help her seize control of a bewildering and rapidly surging torrent of digital image files. The challenges that Nichols described interested him, and he felt they might be…

Today, a plethora of Web sites and software packages are designed specifically for English language learners, and not only are most teacher candidates well-versed in how to use technology, they are likely familiar with numerous software programs that are appropriate to use with children. Although teacher candidates may be well-trained in how to…

Providing quality technical support in K-12 environments can be challenging. Unlike the business world, there is generally a less-than-ideal ratio of technical staff to computers, numerous software titles from dozens of vendors, and of course--a much smaller budget. The Victor Central School District in Victor, New York, has employed a number of…