This study was an initial effort at Brenau College (Georgia) to analyze the relative effectiveness of a self-paced math lab approach to developmental pre-college algebra. Students enrolled in 1988-89 were taught under the lecture method; this applied to students needing both developmental arithmetic and developmental algebra. During the subsequent…

The 52 tests cited in this bibliography are geared to students in grade 7 and above. This bibliography also includes descriptions of item banks and test batteries in which algebra is one of several subjects being assessed. Although grades 1 through 12 are represented, the tests are primarily designed for grades 7 and above, including adult-level.…

Constructivism is considered a driving force in mathematics education. The purpose of this paper is to describe how the social constructivist view of learning can be useful in the teaching of high school algebra and in the preparation of mathematics teachers. A brief summary of the social constructivist view as a philosophy of mathematics is…

Describes how college students enrolled in a course in elementary algebra apply graphing and algebra to data collected from a seismic profile to uncover the structure of a subterranean rock formation. Includes steps guiding the activity. (MDH)

Discusses the place of writing in mathematics classes. Presents three specific writing assignments designed for and used in a college abstract algebra course. (ASK)

Presents examples of algebra from the field of accounting including proportional ownership of stock, separation of a loan payment into principal and interest portions, depreciation methods, and salary withholdings computations. (MKR)

Utilizes a psychological-constructivist perspective to examine the transitions that students make from arithmetic to algebra in the context of problems that, from an expert's perspective, involve the concept of linear inequality. Reports that students who completed a transition to algebra operated at higher levels of reflective abstraction than…

Presented are solutions to variations of a combinatorics problem from a recent International Mathematics Olympiad. In particular, the matrix algebra solution illustrates an interaction among the undergraduate areas of geometry, combinatorics, linear algebra, and group theory. (JJK)

Described is a weekly computer algebra laboratory course for Calculus I students during the 10-week spring semester, 1990, at Trinity University. Advice on the establishment and management of this type of laboratory including descriptions of student participation trends and student reactions is presented. (JJK)

The complexity of the proof of the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra makes it inaccessible to lower level students. Described are more understandable attempts of proving the theorem and a historical account of Euler's efforts that relates the progression of the mathematical process used and indicates some of the pitfalls encountered. (MDH)

This project supported the creation of a computer-based interactive text for linear algebra using guided discovery in a laboratory-based course which emphasized active learning, collaborative learning, and the use of writing. This pedagogical approach had as its goal improved student understanding and retention of the concepts and methods of…

Discussed are two approaches to determining which regular polygons, either inscribed within or circumscribed about the unit circle, exhibit rational area or rational perimeter. One approach involves applications of abstract theory from a typical modern algebra course, whereas the other approach employs material from a traditional…

The geometry problems of finding rectangles that have numerically equal areas and perimeters knowing when the plane can be tessellated by congruent regular polygons are connected by the equation: m = 2n/(n-2). Three graphic approaches to the solution of the problem when m and n are integers are discussed. (MDH)

Investigates the impact of faculty and student characteristics on the performance of students in their last developmental mathematics course and in college algebra. Reveals that faculty gender and employment status, and student age, ethnicity, and enrollment status were significantly related to student performance in both developmental mathematics…

This study examined differences between men and women in intermediate and college algebra courses in an urban university's mathematics lab. Variables examined included grade, hours worked, semester course load, grade point average, time spent in mathematics lab, and age. Women had better course grades than men in intermediate and similar grades in…