Trends in the curriculum reform propose that algebra should be taught throughout the grades, starting in elementary school. The aim should be to decrease the discontinuity between the arithmetic in elementary school and the algebra in upper grades. This study was conducted to investigate and characterise upper elementary school students…

Technology has become a major force in developing curricula and educational practice in mathematics education internationally. While many technologies are important in affluent developed countries, the hand-held calculator continues to be the technology most likely to be available to students when and where they need it. Modern calculators have…

It has long been recognised that successful mathematical learning comprises much more than just knowledge of skills and procedures. For example, Skemp (1976) identified the advantages of teaching mathematics for what he referred to as "relational" rather than "instrumental" understanding. More recently, Kilpatrick, Swafford and Findell (2001)…

Mathematical modelling is increasingly becoming part of an instructional approach deemed to develop students with competencies to function as 21st century learners and problem solvers. As mathematical modelling is a relatively new domain in the Singapore primary school mathematics curriculum, many teachers may not be aware of the learning outcomes…

The first appendix in this report is the complete version of the literature review from the research project "Motivation and Engagement of Boys: Evidence-based Teaching Practices." This project was carried out by the University of Western Sydney on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) between…

For this report, the Board assessed the Institute's progress in three areas: 1) Establishment of research priorities to guide its investments into the next decade; 2) Creation of a rigorous peer review process for grants applications and reports; and 3) the Institute's efforts to ensure its work is useful to practitioners and policymakers.…

By fall 2005, the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), the first federally funded voucher program in the United States, was in its second year serving low-income students in the nation's capital. More than 5,800 students have applied to the Program over the 2 years, and about 2,300 of them--eligible public school students who participated in…

Draws on a range of published case studies on settings in which individuals not professionally involved with science address issues that have a scientific aspect. Suggests that at least some areas of knowledge about science should be part of the compulsory school science curriculum. (Contains 61 references.) (ASK)

Focuses on the relationship between science and Islam in the context of science education. Describes Islamic science and whether it is a valid philosophy of science. Discuses islamisation or marginalization of science education. Discusses implications and offers suggestions for science education. (Contains 63 references.) (ASK)

Studies how the cultural context of curriculum policy relates to what students are taught in the classroom by using data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Explores how what constitutes school science varies from one culture/nation to another, and that these differences pervade all instantiations of curriculum.…

Tracks five-year-old children's ideas by a range of means during and subsequent to a classroom sequence on evaporation. Explores the relationship between social and individual perspectives on learning, and questions some assumptions underlying conceptual change research. Analyzes the children's explanations of various evaporation phenomena over…

Describes a quantitative study of secondary school teachers' beliefs about curriculum design. Uses the 33-item Science Curriculum Orientation Inventory (SCOI) to measure five distinct orientations to curriculum: academic, cognitive process, society-centered, humanistic, and technological. Collects data from 810 integrated science, chemistry,…

Questions whether belief in the paranormal is alive and well in preservice teachers. Studies undergraduate preservice teachers' (n=232) reactions to a series of eight statements reflecting paranormal New Age beliefs rated earlier by a faculty panel as "totally unbelievable." (Contains 29 references.) (Author/YDS)

Studies students aged 12 to 14 years (n=217) representing a wide ability range. Analyzes the responses of participants to the dissolution of a solid in both cold and warm water. Findings have implications for the teaching of all science theory but especially for conveying the purpose of models and the process of modeling. (Contains 29 references.)…

Observes the progressive change in the cognitive development of students (n=141) over the course of their secondary education in an Australian private school. Analyzes data to investigate children's cognitive development across years 8, 10, and 12. Examines the influence of the Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) Thinking…