It is over 25 years since Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976, "Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry," 17, 89-100) introduced the idea of "scaffolding" to represent the way children's learning can be supported. Despite problems, this metaphor has enduring attraction in the way it emphasises the intent to support a sound foundation with increasing…

The authors present an analysis of portfolio entries submitted by candidates seeking certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards in the area of Early Adolescence/Mathematics. Analyses of mathematical features revealed that the tasks used in instruction included a range of mathematics topics but were not consistently…

The growing concern of teachers to improve their theoretical classes together with the revolution in content and methods brought about by the New Information Technologies combine to offer students a new more attractive, efficient and agreeable form of learning. The case of Descriptive Geometry (DG) is particularly special, since the main purpose…

The authors have attempted to implement "less is more" in a variety of educational contexts. The schools they have been part of include a pilot school in Boston, New Mission High School(New Mission), a charter school in Fitchburg, North Central Charter Essential School (NCCES), and a charter school in Devens, Francis W. Parker Charter…

One of the four cornerstones of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) "Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics" asserts that connecting mathematics to other subjects in the curriculum and to the everyday world is an important goal of school mathematics. This yearbook is designed to help classroom…

This volume contains the full text of 2 plenary papers and 26 research reports. In addition, brief, usually one-page, reports are provided for 6 discussion groups, 10 technology focus groups, 7 symposiums, 7 oral presentations, and 17 position sessions. The two full plenary reports are: (1) "Problems of Reification: Representations and…

In this study, the effects of a form of cooperative group instruction (Student Teams Achievement Divisions) on student motivation and achievement in a high school geometry class were examined. Ninety (mostly 10th-grade) students were randomly assigned to either a control group receiving traditional instruction or one of two treatment groups…

An effective way to teach the concept of image is to give students a model of human vision which incorporates a simple mechanism of depth perception. In this study two almost identical versions of a curriculum in geometrical optics were created. One used a mechanistic, interpretive eye model, and in the other the eye was modeled as a passive,…

This study documents the mathematics practiced by four women in the context of sewing. The study describes the mathematics recognized in the skills, thinking and strategies used by the seamstresses. Through their work, the seamstresses exhibited an understanding of the concepts of angles, direction, parallel, reflection, symmetry, proportion,…

This paper is based on efforts to bring change to school mathematics by trying to develop mathematics classroom communities in predominantly minority classrooms. In these communities, students work towards doing mathematics by working on open-ended, investigative situations; sharing ideas and strategies; and jointly negotiating meanings. Students…

This book reinforces the outstanding work done by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in developing curriculum standards for students in kindergarten through fourth grade by discussing the 13 strands of mathematics and their implications for teachers and parents who work with students. It also provides some suggested resources…

This book contains activities designed to help teachers enrich the mathematical experiences of all children and reach toward fulfillment of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards. Chapters include: (1) "Prenumber, Number, Non-Number"; (2) "Place Value"; (3) "Addition, Subtraction"; (4)…

This book is designed to supplement The University of Chicago School Mathematics Project's (UCSMP) Transition Mathematics textbook. The content and questions in this book have been sequenced to specific geometry lessons in the Transition Mathematics text. All geometry explorations are done with the TI-92 calculator. This book is organized around…

In this instructional guide, a third-level, two-semester mathematics course specifically for the student who plans a career in a vocational field is presented. The course is designed to meet the needs of students with varying mathematical backgrounds and to teach the mathematical skills required by various technical areas. In this practical…

This book is one in a series of teacher resource books developed to: (1) rescue students from the clutches of computers that drill and control; and (2) supply teachers with computer activities compatible with a mathematics program that emphasizes investigation, problem solving, creativity, and hypothesis making and testing. This is not a book…