This paper reports on a research study examining the benefits of investigations as non-traditional assessment tasks in the lower secondary school. A mathematical investigation is defined as an inquiry into a mathematical situation, the topic of which may arise from real life or a mathematically designed problem. Students are required to apply…

This case study report provides information that can be useful in implementing rational changes in mathematics teacher education. Considering teachers' thinking about a specific mathematical topic, such as functions, allows one to better understand the broader domain of teachers' mathematical thinking and its influence on teaching and learning.…

This paper provides information on a project by the Uganda Mathematical Society (UMS) that aims to popularize mathematics in Uganda. UMS believes that if parents learn mathematics (primary and secondary), they will be able to help their children themselves instead of hiring others to coach their children as is the practice today. Another way to…

The purpose of this study was to examine first-grade students' achievement in mathematics and attitudes toward mathematics using different instructional approaches. Two classes of first grade students participated in this study. One class was taught by a teacher using a direct instructional approach while the other class was taught using a…

For learners to develop powerful conceptions of mathematics, they must have opportunities to experience mathematics--to make conjectures, explore mathematical relationships, justify claims, engage in mathematical communication, and connect concepts within and outside of mathematics. If learners are to experience mathematics in this way,…

Current educational reform movements focus on mathematics teaching for the empowerment of students and on the classroom as a mathematical community in which students themselves actively question, negotiate, and construct mathematical ideas through classroom discourse. This paper discusses a study that focused on students' use and perception of…

In a real sense, PISA 2003 has touched the mathematics education community by stealth rather than by storm. Although PISA brings "baggage" commonly associated with international assessments, it takes some refreshing perspectives especially in the way that it envisions and assesses mathematical literacy. In this panel discussion we focus…

This volume presents four papers originally drafted for a symposium on sex differences and mathematics education held at the 1974 meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Subsequent to the AERA meeting the papers were revised. The paper by Fox reviews results of several contests to identify junior high school students who were…

The relational concepts developed in mathematics and psychology are used in this paper to explicate the needs and responsibilities of dramatic acting and theatre research. A parallel is constructed between the emergence of the mathematical concept of function, the awakening of psychology to the concept of relationship (especially regarding family…

In a university environment, the library can benefit from interest in the digital future on the part of other concerned groups. Computer science departments are natural partners in the development of digital libraries. Professional societies, for-profit companies, and foundations are also potential sources of support. Cornell University Library…

An overview to a session at the Fifth International Congress on Mathematical Education is given. Papers on research by Cooney, curriculum development by Goffree, reform in mathematics education by Stephens, and a summary by Nickson are included. (MNS)

This paper provides an historical perspective on the possible roles of cognitive technologies in thinking as "reorganizers" of the mind. It suggests that by understanding the transformational roles of advanced technologies for mathematical thinking, positive contributions can be made to research and practice on the use of computers in…

Mathematical literacy has become a 'buzz word' for describing those mathematical abilities, which are essential for any individual to function in our increasingly technological world. Despite the widespread use of the term, there is no real consensus about what being mathematically literate entails. A working group met during this AMTE conference…

This document brings into a dialogue some of the theoretical frameworks used to study affect in mathematics education. It presents affect as a representational system, affect as one regulator of the dynamic self, affect in a socio-constructivist framework, and affect as embodied. It also evaluates these frameworks from different perspectives:…

The academic training needs of two-year college mathematics faculty are discussed in this paper and appropriate courses of study are proposed. After introductory comments on the diversity of two-year college students' needs for mathematics education, an undergraduate course of study appropriate for two-year college math faculty is proposed. This…