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…

Forty-eight students with no previous exposure to probability or statistics read one of three textbooks that varied in emphasis placed on rote and conceptual learning of basic elementary probability concepts. Findings, among others, show students who read textbooks emphasizing conceptual learning tended to be less sensitive to surface features.…

Determined whether 11 third-grade children, differing in cognitive processing capacity, solve addition and subtraction word problems differently. Results, among others, show that children who differ in cognitive processing capacity also differ in strategies they use to solve the same verbal problems and differ in their success in finding correct…

Sixteen Brazilian third graders aged 8-13 were given problems involving multidigit computation. School-taught algorithms were likely to be used in school-taught problems, with little carry-over to real problem situations, but resulted in more incorrect answers. (MNS)

Four methods of solutions and 12 calculative strategies were found from introspective reports of 15 skilled and 15 unskilled students in grades 11 and 12 doing mental multiplication. Unskilled students used strategies more suited to written than mental computation, while skilled students used strategies based on number properties. (MNS)

The effects of two instructional strategies for sequencing examples and nonexamples of the concept "parallelogram" were compared for sixth graders. A rational sequence was favored over a random sequence at the formal level of concept attainment; no interaction effect was found between the strategy and students' mathematical ability. (MNS)

Investigated were the effects of spatial training on calculus achievement, spatial visualization ability, and the use of visualization in solving problems on solids of revolution. Sex differences were found favoring women in calculus achievement and men in spatial visualization ability. (MNS)

Kindergartners appeared to differ in their readiness to use a concrete counting strategy for addition. Many persisted in counting with objects. Mental counting strategies were sequenced. (MNS)

A content-oriented analysis of written solutions to test items in Israeli high school graduation examinations in mathematics yielded six error categories: misused data; misinterpreted language; logically invalid inference; distorted theorem or definition; unverified solution; and technical error. (Authors/MNS)

Women from five Canadian universities overestimated their final grades less often and underestimated them more often than men did. No sex-related difference was found in level of confidence to complete the bachelor's program, but women expressed less confidence in their ability to obtain the doctorate. (MNS)

The mathematics achievement of 11,914 men and women aged 15 to 22, who participated in the National Longitudinal Study of Youth Labor Force Behavior in 1980, was analyzed to assess sex, education, and ethnic group effects. Generally, achievement of all groups increased the longer they were in school. (Authors/MNS)

Investigated was how easily pupils aged 12 and 13 who were initially unaware of the invariance of an operation (with decimals) modeling a situation could be led to such awareness. Results from clinical interviews are reviewed and a protocol presented. It appeared difficult to induce conservation. (MNS)

Discussed is the development of a comprehensive approach to mathematics education in its totality when viewed as an interactive system comprising research, development, and practice. The management philosophy of science, complementarity, and other domains are explored. (MNS)