Research has shown students can identify practices considered appropriate for achieving when learning mathematics (Kershner & Pointon, 2000; McCullum, Hargreaves & Gripps, 2000). Yet, if you listen to students talking about the practices they consider important to succeed, and then observe the same students working in their mathematics…

Two experiments were conducted to investigate the use in mainstreamed classes of team assisted individualization (TAI), in which students work on individualized units in heterogeneous, cooperative learning groups. Team reward systems are incorporated into the small group instruction format. The effects of the TAI approach on the achievement,…

Comparison of gifted, average ability, and low ability sixth grade students (total n=208), in either homogeneous or heterogeneous instructional settings, found a positive effect for achievement in mathematics for the gifted students in the homogeneous grouping. No significant difference in mathematics achievement based on grouping was found for…

During childhood students develop habitual, characteristic, optimistic or pessimistic causal explanations for the everyday events in their lives. Furthermore, they acquire attributional patterns for their educational successes and failures which influence their attitudes, motivations and goals. In this study, relationships between primary and…

Results of this study of 30 middle school students with learning disabilities indicated that, despite a positive attitude toward mathematics, subjects differed from average-achieving and gifted students in general mathematical achievement and problem-solving ability. Mathematical problem solving was related to ability to represent problems and…

Three classes of middle-school students who received one year of problem-solving instruction (n=74) were compared with three classes who were taught in a more traditional manner (n=63). Students receiving problem-solving instruction showed more perseverance in solving problems, more positive attitudes, and more sophisticated definitions of…

This study investigated the effects of personalized instruction on the achievement and attitudes of Taiwanese students on two-step mathematics word problems. A total of 136 fourth graders in a Taiwanese public school participated in the study. Subjects initially completed a Student Survey on which they chose their favorite foods, sports, stores,…

Project SEED (Special Elementary Education for the Disadvantaged) is a supplementary mathematics program which applies Socratic discovery methods to mathematics instruction. It was implemented in 10 fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms in Portland to improve mathematics achievement and increase students' esteem for mathematics learning. Student…

The proposition was examined that for children from different family groups, there are variations in relations among their ability, attitudes toward school, and academic achievement. The study indicated that the family may act as a critical substratum variable that influences the relations between children's attitudinal and cognitive attributes…

Sixth-grade middle school students (N=91) in four mathematics classes served as subjects in a study designed to: (1) determine if the use of computers as an integral part of instruction would increase mathematics achievement; and (2) explore the impact of computers as an integral part of instruction on other factors (such as student attitudes,…

This study was designed to investigate differential achievement effects of cooperative learning instruction in mathematics on students who seek group membership and on those who do not. The study was conducted in a suburban school district in Colorado. Participants were 3 classes of 5th-grade students (N=56) along with teachers who had received…

Eighteen Venezuelan elementary school teachers, trained to provide constructive written feedback on their sixth grade students' mathematics homework, did so three times weekly for ten weeks. In addition to learning and attitude outcomes, aptitude-treatment interactions were examined among treatments and student ability, attitude, and sex.…

This research evaluated mathematics achievement and attitudinal effects of three instructional methods directed in varying degrees toward accommodating diversity in students' prior achievement. Two randomized field experiments of 16 and 18 weeks' duration, respectively, compared an individualized model, Team Assisted Individualization (TAI); an…

The purpose of this study was to discover what teachers believe about problem solving in mathematics and to what extent their beliefs are reflected in the beliefs of students. Ten 5th-grade teachers in a large rural school district volunteered to participate. Each teacher identified one student perceived as successful and one perceived as…

The goals of the project were: (1) to develop elementary mathematics instructional materials which incorporate the use of hand calculators; (2) to develop an appropriate teacher training program; (3) to improve students' basic mathematics skills; (4) to improve students' understanding of mathematics concepts and processes; (5) to improve students'…