This article describes the A, E, I, O, U technique, designed to help teachers ensure that teaching and learning are not mutually exclusive in the classroom. Most teachers would agree that motivating average teenagers to communicate how they got an answer or justify their problem-solving strategies can be as difficult as teaching a dog to whistle.…

The article focuses on engaging students in algebra through modeling real-world problems. The technique of least squares is explored, encouraging students to develop a deeper understanding of the method. (Contains 2 figures and a bibliography.)

In this article we discuss how classroom voting can be used to create an active learning environment, to provide immediate feedback for both students and teacher and to motivate students to participate in discussions about mathematics.

The understanding and a liking towards mathematics can be very effectively developed in students by allowing them to find out the solutions for any basic problem or simulations, which are basically mathematical reenactments of nearly or completely hypothetical situations. The nontransitive relation of Efron's dice or the assignment of numbers in a…

Includes fascinating stories about mathematicians and their interesting lives. Shows that mathematicians are human beings with peculiar foibles and personality quirks just like the rest of us. (KHR)

Presents suggestions for improving textbook and classroom word problems: (1) Avoid composing exercises that inspire unanswerable questions, (2) State problems in terms of the future instead of the past, and (3) Find motivation for solving a problem beyond idle curiosity; some advantage should be gained from solving the problem. (MKR)

This article describes an engaging, data-gathering activity that allows students to explore relationships between latitude and average monthly temperatures of cities in the Western Hemisphere. This data-gathering activity covered interesting and important mathematical ground and engaged students from the start. While students searched for their…

Uses cryptography to demonstrate the importance of algebra and the use of technology as an effective real application of mathematics. Explains simple encoding and decoding of messages for student learning of modular arithmetic. This elementary encounter with cryptography along with its historical and modern background serves to motivate student…

The way in which a mathematical problem was used as a vehicle to introduce the joy of mathematical research to a high school student is demonstrated. The student was interested in learning about other classical problems delighting an eager high school student.

Four alternatives to the traditional testing and grading procedures are described. (JT)

An analysis of four months of front-page newspaper articles to determine the amount of mathematics necessary to understand these articles is presented. (MP)

The article discusses the use of L-systems, which provide students with a unique method to construct line fractals, including the Koch snowflake, the Sierpinski triangle, and the Harter-Heighway dragon. Applets that use L-system theory offer a graphics tool that promotes geometric reasoning, sparks enthusiasm, and connects to historical themes in…

A teacher tells how she uses the game of chess to introduce students to formal geometry by drawing analogies between rules of chess and deductive systems. (JP)

A college course using science fiction literature as a springboard into the study of geometries is described. (DT)