Explores how children from kindergarten to 6th grade think about the same fraction problem and what that should mean for instruction. (Author)

Describes a year-long, career-based project to practice basic skills in a meaningful context until such skills are transferred to long-term memory. (YDS)

Elementary and middle school education majors in Australia (n=326) and the United States (n=378) were asked to arrange a list of decimals in order from smallest to largest. Only about half of these preservice teachers in each country were able to complete the task correctly. (MKR)

Suggests that a superior way of teaching fractions is to assist learners to conceptualize fractions, especially to grasp the varied meaning of fractions. Advocates using hands-on procedures, gives three different meanings of the concept "fraction," and explains how to teach children the deeper meaning of numberline subunits, fractions as division,…

Analyzes students' representations of fractions as they work on fraction comparison tasks and justify their solutions in a collective classroom activity. Emphasizes the importance of setting a problematic situation and encouraging students to make various representations for their learning. Suggests some implications for teacher activities and…

This article describes constructivist principles of learning in geometry specific to children's imaginal anticipations in line measurement and fractions. Application with seven sixth grade students with learning disabilities found that students had difficulty coordinating and imagining second-order and higher nested relationships that could be…

Reviews journal discussion of the problem of multiple-authorship in bibliometrics. Discusses three methods by Egghe and Rousseau: first author counting, normal counting and fractional counting. (JAK)

Discusses the use of techniques from language experiences in assisting with the learning and assessment of mathematics. Provides a mathematics activity on fractions employing story writing activities. (ASK)

Presents an approach for teaching the multiplication of fractions by helping students build a foundation on the basis of their informal knowledge. Suggests some action research ideas for teachers to try in their classrooms. (ASK)

Presents evidence of the influence of professional development and curriculum on upper elementary students' understanding of fractions. Subjects included three groups of teachers and their students. Indicates that the benefits of reform curriculum for students may depend upon integrated professional development. (Contains 60 references.)…

Presents activities to supplement the usual diagnostic procedures that middle school math teachers employ at the beginning of the school year to ascertain the math skill levels of their new students. Includes activities related to problem solving, data analysis, estimation, and fractions. (ASK)

Reports on the findings of a research project involving decimals and students' misconceptions about them. Offers some practical activities that may help children understand decimals better. (ASK)

This compilation is drawn from the IDEAS section that has been a feature of the "Arithmetic Teacher" since 1971. The contents are arranged in the following categories: Computation, Fractions and Decimals, Developing Number Patterns, Using Flowcharts, Problem Solving, Geometry, and Metric Measure. All selections are reprinted just as they…

This paper reports on a teaching experiment involving decimal instruction conducted with a class of elementary students (n=20) in a public school of a small city. After doing extensive work with multiplication, division, ratio, and fractions through an innovative mathematics curriculum, fifth grade students were introduced to decimal numbers. To…

This case study was carried out with a student who was 9 years old and in the fourth grade when the study began. She was selected after the administration of an exploratory questionnaire to 66 pupils in primary school. The main features of the case were the absence of a common referent and a corresponding unit to the free generation of references…