Investigates the advantages of graphical mapping of national research publication and citation profiles from scientific fields in order to provide additional information with respect to research performance. By means of a multi-dimensional scaling techniques national social science profiles from 17 countries and two periods, 1989-1993 and…

Following a pretest, 11 participants who were naive with regard to various algebraic and trigonometric transformations received an introductory lecture regarding the fundamentals of the rectangular coordinate system. Following the lecture, they took part in a computer-interactive matching-to-sample procedure in which they received training on…

This article describes a connection between literature and mathematics through a story-graphing project. (Contains 7 figures.)

This paper presents an assessment tool which can be used during the first weeks of calculus to measure students' visual thinking skills. We have developed and applied this instrument in classes for the last three years, tabulating results and interviewing students on a regular basis. We discuss our findings and provide hints to using the…

Although some bright students in primary school are able to organise numerical data into classes, most attend to the characteristics of individuals rather than the group, and "see the trees rather than the forest". How can teachers in upper primary and early high school teach students to organise large sets of data with widely varying…

For decades, every chemical engineer has been asked to have a background in separations. The required separations course can, however, be uninspiring and superficial because understanding many separation processes involves conventional graphical methods and commercial process simulators. We utilize simple, user-­friendly mathematical software,…

Based on studies carried out on qualitative data an instrument was constructed for investigating how larger numbers of students handle graphics. This test, consisting of 18 pages, each with its own graphic display(s) and a set of tasks, was distributed to 363 students, 15-16 years of age, from five different schools. The format of the questions…

Concerns about students' difficulties in statistical reasoning led to a study which explored form five (14- to 16-year-olds) students' ideas in this area. The study focussed on descriptive statistics, graphical representations, and probability. This paper presents and discusses the ways in which students made sense of information in graphical…

Using literature in science instruction has the potential to increase student motivation and to improve student achievement in both literacy and science. The process of identifying high-quality picture books, however, can be challenging and time consuming for teachers. The authors identified 74 science-based picture books from the annual Teachers'…

Results from the component tests of the New Mexico Statewide Articulated Assessment System, an elementary-level assessment, are presented. The New Mexico Achievement Assessment, uses the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills to assess the achievement of students in grades 3, 5 and 8. Score increases were seen for students in grade 3 in mathematics, in grade…

While most microeconomics curriculums contain no reference to the use of microcomputers, spreadsheet packages adapt well to microeconomics courses. This presentation examines the following topics in the context of a microeconomics course: (1) The Microcomputer Spreadsheet Package--LOTUS; (2) The Spreadsheet Anatomy--cells, commands, menus; (3)…

This summary of the use of microcomputers in Florida public schools during the 1990-91 school year indicates that the schools have reported a total of 131,367 microcomputers being used for student instruction, and 21,806 being used for administrative purposes. Four tables present data on the number of microcomputers in individual school districts…

This document is a compilation of illustrative maps, tables, and graphs that depict several features of the Soviet Union, including: size, population, trade, energy, industries, demographic statistics, and food and agriculture. Designed to be used by classroom teachers, it provides a rich resource of information for teaching about the U.S.S.R. (DB)

Three experiments tested the hypothesis that graphs convey information effectively because they can display global trends as geometric patterns that visual systems encode easily. A novel type of graph was invented in which angles/lengths of line segments joined end-to-end represented variables of rainfall and temperature of a set of months. It was…

In the activity described here students build mazes, then time fellow students as they "run" the mazes. They then graph the results to determine a learning curve. (SD)