It is not complex to teach the algorithm for multiplying fractions so that children can multiply numerators and denominators to arrive at correct answers. However, it is a challenge to teach so that students build understanding of multiplication of fractions, extending what they have already learned about fractions and about multiplication of…

This video offers an exciting four-part adventure about two teenage sleuths who discover the presence of an alien below New York City. As they try to make contact with the alien, they are confronted with a series of mathematical challenges that test their knowledge of the content strands recommended by the National Council of Teachers of…

This print guide to the "XY Encounter" video offers an exciting four-part adventure about two teenage sleuths who discover the presence of an alien below New York City, and expands upon themes presented in the video. As the students try to make contact with the alien, they are confronted with a series of mathematical challenges that test their…

Teaching ideas related to the instruction of decimal division as the opposite of multiplication, an approach to approximating logarithms that help reveal their properties, and the simple creation of algebraic equations with radical expressions for use as exercises and test questions are presented. (MP)

Results of interviews with students regarding their conceptual understanding of fractions are discussed. Fewer than 10 percent had acquired an adequate conceptual base. (MP)

Examples of student-developed methods for dividing fractions and dividing and multiplying whole numbers are presented. Both are selected to show mathematical creativity in general mathematics students which would often be overlooked. (MP)

Discussed are the problems of teaching and learning fractions in the upper primary and lower secondary schools. Recommendations for teaching fractions are made and defects in various methods of fraction instruction are identified. It is suggested that fractions not be taught in upper primary and lower secondary schools. (Author/DS)

Arguing that the infusion of career information into the student's mainstream curriculum, in this case mathematics courses, both provides the student with information about a wide range of occupational options and enhances the teaching of actual subject matter, the author introduces a series of mathematics texts he has written to enable students…

Thirty-eight sixth graders were trained in fraction calculation through progressive transformation dialectics (PT) whereas a control group of 38 was taught through a traditional mathematics education framework. The PT group, encouraged to form network-type knowledge representations, performed better on problems that required more than mere…

Presents two games that provide practice with equivalent fractions, that were produced at three levels of difficulty, Level 1 being the simplest. Also describes another game for practice in solving simple linear equations. Appendices contain examples of materials used in the games. (ASK)

This constructivist teaching experiment investigated the role of whole-number knowledge in fraction learning. Two nine-year-old students worked for one year with a computer program (Copycat) and demonstrated that the development of whole-number knowledge and rational-number knowledge is interdependent. Contains 59 references. (KMC)