A study introduced a mathematics text that combines real math and science in a fictional context to six gifted sixth-graders. Responses to four questions by the students are provided. Results indicate that using prose writing in mathematics is a fruitful means of assessment in mathematics. (Contains seven references.) (CR)

Studied relations among children's short-term memory, working memory, inhibitory control, and arithmetic word-problem solving. Found that poor problem solvers had lower scores and made more intrusion errors in working memory tasks requiring inhibition of irrelevant information than good problem solvers. Findings indicated that performance relates…

This study describes a conceptual teaching approach that helps students make connections between their everyday activities and mathematical word problems. It includes a brief review of the importance of teaching for understanding and describes four principles of conceptual teaching: (1) use cooperative groups; (2) allow students enough time to act…

An analysis of the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) found that only 46 percent of all high school seniors demonstrated success with a grasp of decimals, percentages, fractions and simple algebra. This article investigates error patterns that emerge as students attempt to answer questions involving the ability to apply…

The present study investigated 90 elementary teachers' ability to identify two systematic error patterns in subtraction and then prescribe an instructional focus. Presented with two sets of 20 completed subtraction problems comprised of basic facts, computation, and word problems representative of two students' math performance, participants were…

This study describes a classroom action research activity regarding a group of elementary school teacher candidates' perceptions of good mathematics problems. A questionnaire containing 20 problems was given, and the candidates were asked to rate the quality of each problem on a 5-point scale. The results revealed that the majority of the teacher…

Background: Previous research on small-group learning has found that level of constructive activity (solving or explaining how to solve problems using ideas stated or implied in the explanation provided by a partner) was a better predictor of post-test achievement than either a student's prior achievement or the quality of help received (Webb,…

This paper presents the results of a study developed in the context of indigenous teachers education from Xingu Indian Park, Brazil. The indigenous bilingual (or multilingual in some cases) teachers that participated in this education program were from 14 ethnic groups. The research focused on a mathematics textbook production, written in…

Background/Context: The theoretical framework of the paper comes from research on problem solving, considered by many to be the essence of mathematics; research on the importance of oral language in learning mathematics; and on the importance of the teacher as the primary instrument of learning mathematics for most students. As a nation, we are…

Two related studies are reported about the (lack of) activation of real-world knowledge in elementary school students' understanding and solution of school arithmetic word problems. In the first study a set of word problems was collectively administered to 75 fifth-graders during a typical mathematics lesson. Half of the problems were standard…

This study examined the differential effects of two instructional strategies, an explicit schema-based strategy and a general cognitive strategy, on the acquisition, maintenance, and generalization of mathematical word problem solving by students with mild disabilities and at-risk students. Twenty-three second, third, fourth, and fifth graders…

A reading comprehension program was developed and implemented that addressed the needs of sixth-grade students. The program focused on critical thinking skills using a teamwork approach. Each heterogeneous small group used a checklist composed of before, during, and after reading questions and activities. At the conclusion of the 12-week…

This manual is used with MATHBOXES, a computer program written for Apple II microcomputers to help children relate formal mathematical symbols for representing simple word problems to the informal strategies using physical objects that they naturally use to solve them. There is a substantial body of research that documents that young children are…

The problem of sex bias in mathematics word problems is discussed, with references to the appropriate literature. Word problems are assessed via cognitive science analysis of word problem solving. It has been suggested that five basic semantic relations are adequate to classify nearly all story problems, namely, change, combine, compare, vary, and…

Numerous research studies over the past five years indicate that a high percentage of college students have severe deficiencies in their ability to use mathematics as a language for representing simple quantitative relationships. In the United States these problems are nearly as common among students with strong computational skills in algebra and…