Findings of 79 research reports were analyzed to assess the effects of calculators on student achievement and attitudes. Except in grade four, use of calculators in concert with traditional mathematics instruction improved average students' basic skills with paper and pencil, both in working exercises and in problem solving. (MNS)

Different uses of numbers in natural language and mathematics is argued to have consequences for children's learning of numbers and for primary-grade textbooks. A study using particular properties of Hebrew indicates a crossing of the two language systems in children's reading of an arithmetic textbook. (MNS)

A hierarchical-clustering technique was used to examine relationships among computation-related skills by pupils in grades one to four in two Irish schools. A clear hierarchical ordering of skills was obtained at each grade. (MNS)

A geometric task was designed to investigate the effect of the frequency of irrelevant features in learning a conjunctive concept. One hundred algebra students were assigned to one of four treatment groups. Frequency of irrelevant features affected the usefulness of negative instances. (MNS)

Two-hundred forty-seven students in AP Calculus BC classes in 15 schools were compared to 229 students in college calculus courses in nine colleges, using a testing instrument valid for both groups. The AP Calculus BC students achieved as well as, or better than, their college counterparts. (MNS)

Explores whether there is a component of mathematics anxiety distinct from numerical anxiety and mathematics test anxiety. A 30-item instrument was administered to 365 community college students. A factor involving anxiety associated with specific mathematics topics, labeled "abstraction anxiety," was found. (MNS)

A 15-item story problem test was written at three readability levels (below grade 4, grades 4-6, above grade 6) by two methods (vocabulary control and sentence control). Six test forms were administered to 1158 children in grades 3-6. Readability level had no effect on problem difficulty. (Author/MNS)

First graders were taught to solve symbolic subtraction combinations by counting up from the smaller number to the larger while keeping track of the number counted up by using one-handed finger patterns. They improved quite considerably on a timed test of the more difficult subtraction combinations. (MNS)

Described are procedures followed in developing, administering, and scoring a set of mathematical problem-solving superitems and examining their construct validity through a recently developed evaluation technique associated with a taxonomy of the structure of learned outcomes. Data strongly support the validity of the underlying theoretical…

Thirty-four third graders matched 14 foldout shapes (nets) with seven polyhedra. They had more success associating nets containing triangular regions than nets with only rectangular regions. It was easier to identify nets of pyramids and of a triangular prism when the lateral faces were distributed around the bases. (MNS)

Sex-related differences in achievement were studied in a random sample of 130 schools, using data from the Second International Mathematics Study. No significant differences were found in arithmetic, algebra, and probability and statistics; for geometry and measurement, boys were more successful. (MNS)

Ordering theory was used in two studies to empirically determine hierarchies of developmental precedence for Piaget's 16 logical combinations. In study 1, subjects (N=94) responded to statements about odd and even numbers; in study 2, 30 subjects responded to statements about line segments. Results are reported and discussed. (Author/JN)

Five preservice teachers' perceived sources of teaching decisions were studied as they proceeded through a secondary mathematics education methods course and through student teaching. Sources cited most often included methods course content, school textbooks, suggestions made during teaching episodes in the methods course, past teachers'…

Describes the van Hiele levels of reasoning in geometry according to responses to clinical interview tasks concerning triangles and quadrilaterals. Subjects were 13 students from grades 1 through 12 plus a university mathematics major. Students' behavior on tasks was consistent with the van Hiele original general description of the levels.…

Data were collected on mathematics achievement, spatial visualization ability, student attitudes, sex, parent attitudes, and student career interests of 1982 seventh- and eighth-grade students from 13 midwestern junior high schools. Parent attitudes and student career interests were significant predictors of mathematics achievement over and above…