Whether the one- or two-factor Wechsler or weighted sum scores (WSS) structural models adequately fit the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children III (WISC-III) covariance matrices was studied with samples of 2200 and 1118 children from previous studies. Both the WSS and supplemented models provided better fit than Wechsler's model but still…

Examines education's effects on choice of medical care inputs and the subsequent relationship between these inputs and overall health. Specifically examines consumption of curative and preventive medical care and other lifestyle choices, using nultivariate analysis of three estimation models and 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey data.…

Describes an experiment using applications and projects to motivate students in college algebra. Provides a few illustrative examples of the applications/projects used and shares some student comments. (Author/ASK)

Discusses some aspects of learning to read the process of the variation in congruence and relate it to the original geometry of the sphere since it touches on more general questions about how models are appropriated and used. Presents a learning episode that implemented projective models for both spherical and hyperbolic geometry in Object Logo.…

Illustrates the use of latent growth modeling (LGM) as an analytical tool in program evaluation using the hypothetical example of a high school drug prevention program. Demonstrates the use of LGM in assessing longitudinal impact and in incorporating predictors of status and growth into a model. Highlights advantages and limitations of LGM. (SLD)

Discusses a precalculus project in which students create a model United Nations to present and discuss the long-term prognosis for individual countries given data on population growth and food production. Students compare exponential and linear functions to determine whether starvation will occur and prepare oral and written presentations of their…

Illustrates how modeling and other non-deductive forms of reasoning as employed by a highly creative mathematician can be productive as important conceptual innovations and, by the same token, can serve as effective tools for stimulating conceptual development in the process of learning mathematics. Characterizes Klein's model-based practice and…

Provides asymptotic formulas for the standard errors of parameter estimates from the NOHARM computer program for restricted and unrestricted rotated models, using large-sample theory, and a goodness-of-fit test of the model. Used simulation to show that results from NOHARM are comparable to the three-stage estimator of B. Muthen (1993). (SLD)

Develops and tests a learning environment for teaching and learning how to model and solve mathematical application problems using four classes of fifth graders. Indicates that the intervention had a positive effect on different aspects of pupils' mathematical modeling and problem solving abilities. (Contains 62 references.) (Author/ASK)

Discusses findings from a research study designed to characterize students' development of significant mathematical models by examining the shifts in their thinking that occur during problem investigations. Reveals four sources of mismatches that were significant in bringing about the occurrence of shifts in students' thinking. (Contains 16…

Discusses two versions of a signaling game to set minimal quality requirements for higher education applicants in Israel: one assumes low sensitivity to quality, the other high sensitivity. Concludes that indirect government influence on quality variations in applicant pool is more effective in controlling institutional quality then direct…

In discussions with leading educators from many different fields, MAA's CRAFTY (Curriculum Renewal Across the First Two Years) committee found that one of the most common mathematical themes in those other disciplines is the idea of fitting a function to a set of data in the least squares sense. The representatives of those partner disciplines…

An inventory replenishment policy is developed for a deteriorating item and price-dependent demand. The rate of deterioration is taken to be time-proportional and the time to deterioration is assumed to follow a two-parameter Weibull distribution. A power law form of the price dependence of demand is considered. The model is solved analytically…

This paper is the "Discussion Document" for a forthcoming ICMI Study on "Applications and Modelling in Mathematics Education." As will be well-known, from time to time ICMI (the International Commission on Mathematical Instruction) mounts specific studies in order to investigate, both in depth and in detail, particular fields of interest in…

If the goal is to promote mathematical thinking and help children become flexible problem solvers, then it is important to show students multiple representations of a problem. Because it is important to help students develop both counting-based and collections-based conceptions of number, teachers should be showing students both number line…