Presents examples of word problems that can be used to illustrate the distributive property for preservice teachers. Includes examples involving extended sums, volume, area, prealgebra, place value, long multiplication, fractions, decimals, and algebra. (MDH)

Illustrates and discusses one class of strategies to solve word problems referred to as "number-consideration strategies." Contrasts actions and goals of students who focus mainly on number considerations with those of students who focus mainly on problem understanding. (MDH)

Describes "talk-through" model of peer teaching in which student pairs are asked to verbalize their thinking processes as they work through a mathematical problem. Lists five benefits of using this method. (MDH)

Presents a series of activities developed from the "Arithmetic Teacher's" regular feature entitled "Problem Solving: Tips for Teachers" to help students develop skills in each of the four steps of Polya's problem-solving process: (1) Understanding the Problem; (2) Making a Plan; (3) Carrying Out the Plan; and (4) Reflecting…

A list of potential writing ideas and general guidelines to be used in integrating writing into the mathematics classroom are provided. Ideas under the headings of narrative, descriptive, and expository writing are included. (KR)

Suggests that using the iconic and computing features of a spreadsheet enhances the transition from natural language sentences to pictorial and numerical representations of algebraic word problems. Presents work performed in a lab setting with preservice and inservice teachers enrolled in contemporary general mathematics and problem-solving…

This is the first of two papers that develop a framework and encourage discussion of research and programmatic concerns on arithmetic word problem solving. The two papers include a comprehensive framework for expanding the traditional three to five sentence word problem into a scheme that assures problems will be of a variety of structures and…

Introduction: The Maui Hawaii Educational consortium (the Maui School District and Maui Community College) sought scientifically based evidence for the effectiveness of the Cognitive Tutor (CT) Algebra I Curriculum to inform adoption decisions. Decision makers were particularly interested in whether the use of the CT program affects achievement of…

This paper reports on the process of modifying the ModelCreator item generation system to produce output in multiple languages. In particular, Japanese and Spanish are now supported in addition to English. The addition of multilingual functionality was considerably facilitated by the general formulation of our natural language generation system,…

Researchers have suggested that among bilinguals, solving word problems in mathematics is influenced by linguistic factors (K. Durkin & B. Shire, 1991; L. Verschaffel, B. Greer, & E. De Corte, 2000). Others have suggested that students exhibit a strong tendency to exclude real-world constraints in solving mathematics word problems (L. Verschaffel,…

Recognition of the importance of (special) children's learning of mathematics in an active fashion has increased rapidly since the beginning of the 1980s. This book presents current ideas and trends in the teaching of mathematics and aims at giving an overview of new developments in the field of (special) mathematics and showing how researchers…

In Japan, assessment in classroom teaching cannot be considered apart from classroom lessons. This paper describes typical mathematics classroom situations and some of the developments in classroom assessment underway in Japan. The first section of the paper discusses classroom teaching, including whole-class instruction, discussion, objectives,…

This set of learning modules was developed during a project to deliver workplace literacy instruction to individuals employed in the more than 50 businesses related to the activities of the Port of Baltimore. It is intended to help employees of port businesses develop basic math skills. The following topics are covered in the individual modules:…

A traditional view of mathematics learning suggests that basic fact knowledge provides a cornerstone for success in problem solving. But possibly, for some children, automated basic fact responses may be disadvantageous for their problem solving success. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between basic fact knowledge and…

One of the five goals proposed in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM) "Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics" is for students to become "mathematical problem solvers." To achieve this goal, the NCTM proposes fundamental changes in both the content of mathematics curricula and the…