Over 600 pupils in grades five, seven, and nine in Italian schools were asked to choose the operation needed to solve 26 multiplication and division word problems. The findings seemed to confirm the impact of the repeated addition model on multiplication and of the partitive model on division. (MNS)

Fourth-grade students' understanding of the order and equivalence of fractions was investigated in an 18-week teaching experiment. Three related characteristics of thinking are hypothesized to be related to success of such tasks, involving flexibility and reasoning that becomes increasingly independent of specific concrete embodiments. (MNS)

Fifty Brazilian children aged seven-13 were individually given addition and subtraction exercises. Counting was the preferred procedure, with use of school-taught algorithms limited. Some children decomposed numbers into tens and units and then worked at both levels. They rarely referred to previous results when doing related exercises. (MNS)

Students from six fourth-grade classes were paired and randomly assigned to computer or worksheet treatments on multiplication and division. Those using computer-based drill-and-practice programs made greater gains on some tests of basic facts, but had no higher retention of algorithms. (MNS)

An emancipatory form of citizenship education is proposed, employing as its pedagogical base Afro-American cultural knowledge born out of the Black community's struggle against American capitalism and racism. The origins of this knowledge are examined and suggestions as to how it could be used in classroom activities are provided. (Author/RM)

Social studies teachers, either because of their preparation or their inappropriate in-service professional development, do not have much sensible understanding of the epistemological state of social studies knowledge. Because of this students will not grant their teachers de facto authority, and social studies is considered irrelevant and is very…

Participatory democracy should replace protectionist democracy as the organizing principle for civic education. An outline of a curriculum for democratic participation is presented. One facet of this curriculum, the teaching of democratic values, is examined in detail through the example of a study of the nuclear freeze movement. (Author/RM)

Proposals for teaching concepts have been dominated by traditional paradigms. A review of research on concept structure and formation reveals evidence for alternative paradigms, e.g., exemplar, probabilistic, and schematic models. The research also indicates problems regarding the traditional models. Implications for relating alternative models to…

John Dewey's theory of reflective thought as presented in "How We Think" (1983) was analyzed. Components and relationships in the processes of reflective thought and teaching people to think effectively were identified. Implications of the research are discussed. (Author/RM)

A case study of a senior-level school economics course in which students are being introduced to a research assignment serves as an example of the application of a humanistic metaphor to the reporting of social studies teaching. Guidelines for constructing and writing such a report are presented. (RM)

Current discourse about the qualitative state of social studies education is apolitical, diminishing opportunities for substantive change. A critical analysis of this discourse demonstrates the failure of the literature to interrogate the structures and beliefs behind surface meanings and values of social studies education in an advanced…

A study of 168 students and eight teachers from grades six through eight showed that entering achievement level and teacher use of objectives during instruction are significant predictors of student achievement. Allocated learning time and absenteeism were not found to be significant variables in explaining achievement. (Author/RM)

Investigated a beginning mathematics teacher's beliefs about problem-solving while finishing preservice training and how these beliefs affected, and were affected by, the first three months of teaching. Analyses revealed conflicts between the teacher's idealism and the reality of classroom practice, as students were not always receptive to…

This study: (1) documented the spontaneous derived facts strategies (DGSs) that second-grade children (N=23) used; (2) investigated how training in use of DFSs influenced the solution strategies children used to solve addition and subtraction problems; and (3) examined the role of DFSs in the transition to recall of number facts. (JN)

Examined the potential of using repeated rate-of-response measures to identify students exhibiting difficulties in arithmetic. Second-grade students (N=30) were followed over two years. Pearson product-moment correlations were computed to determine the ability of rate-of-response measures to predict arithmetic achievement. Results indicate that…