The article discusses an empirical study on the use of history (as a goal) in mathematics education. A historical module was designed and implemented in a Danish upper secondary class to study how students' discussions of metaperspective issues of the historical development of mathematics may be anchored in the taught and learned subject matter of…

Reports results of a study on instructional practices that relate to student achievement in high school classrooms. Uses a standards-based curriculum called Core-Plus and identifies teachers' background characteristics, behavior, and concerns associated with growth in student achievement. Indicates the importance of professional development…

Examines in-service secondary school mathematics teachers' conceptions of proof. Suggests that teachers recognize the variety of roles that proof plays in mathematics. Noticeably absent, however, was a view of proof as a tool for learning mathematics. Many of the teachers held limited views of the nature of proof in mathematics and demonstrated…

Examines possible differences in secondary students' conceptions of randomness before and after instruction in probability, which occurs for Spanish students between the ages of 14 and 17. Indicates that students' subjective understanding of randomness is close to some interpretations of randomness throughout history. Contains 16 references.…

Demonstrates how research-based knowledge of students' incompatible solutions to various representations of the same problem could be used to raise their awareness of inconsistencies in their reasoning. Reports that students' decisions as to whether two given infinite sets have the same number of elements depend on the specific representation of…

Identifies specific functions that reading, in combination with writing and talking, can serve in mathematical inquiries and contribute to a better understanding of how inquiry experiences can be planned and supported in secondary mathematics classrooms. Analysis of data led to identification of 30 functions of reading that are specific to…

Explores the potential for mathematics instruction of four reading strategies grounded in transactional reading theory. Illustrates how encouraging mathematics students to talk, write, draw, and enact texts can provide them with concrete ways to construct and negotiate interpretations of what they read. Contains 41 references. (Author/ASK)

Presents a study of the beliefs and belief structures of four preservice secondary mathematics teachers as they progress through a four-quarter sequence in mathematics education that includes student teaching. Concludes that the various ways in which the teachers structured their beliefs helped account for the fact that some beliefs were permeable…

Explores the strategies used by prospective secondary mathematics teachers (N=13) to develop and validate functions as mathematical models of real-world situations. Uses a grounded hypothesis on strategy selection. Concludes that strategy choice was influenced by task characteristics and interactions with other student modelers. Contains 38…

Investigates the effects of learning mathematics in a cooperative small-group setting on different types of student interactions in low-level ninth-grade classes. Findings indicate an increase in students' activity, a shift toward on-task verbal interaction, various opportunities for students to receive help, and positive attitudes toward the…

This article focuses on the relationship between research and development and the types of justifications given for reform activities. It cautions that research is not to persuade others that an innovation works but rather to examine an innovation critically. (AIM)

Mathematical problems generated by 509 middle school students who were given story-problem descriptions and asked to pose questions that could be answered using the information were examined for solvability, linguistic and mathematical complexity, and relationships within the sets of posed problems. The multiple-step data analysis scheme can be…

Reports a case study set in the context of a "function" curriculum approach to introductory algebra. The expectation that the teacher's actions would reflect the philosophy implied in the curriculum was not supported. The teacher gave priority to curriculum content coverage, emphasized methods and procedures, and adopted teacher-focused…

This clinical, exploratory study describes processes used by 8 ninth-graders learning to solve non-routine geometry problems and changes in those processes as instruction in heuristic methods was given. Directions for future research are indicated, and several hypotheses to be investigated are suggested. (DT)

Nine verbal behaviors of teachers were identified. After twenty Algebra I teachers taught a lesson on direct variation, their students took a posttest. Findings showed that lesson objectives, relevant examples, and "OK" responses correlated positively (p less than .05) with student posttest achievement. (DT)