This article focuses on cluster teachers' differentiation of their classroom instructional practices within an urban setting. Data were gathered from classroom observations of the learning task, questioning, and the classroom environment; ratings of observations using the "Classroom Instructional Practices Scale;" and interviews with…

Investigation into fourth- through sixth-grade students' (N=257) motivational differences regarding computer-assisted mathematics instruction revealed that intrinsically-motivated students performed better at the computer, but not on a paper-and-pencil achievement test, than extrinsically-motivated students. Students who had self-criteria for…

Describes an 8-week study on sixth-grade students (n=23) to determine the effect of personalizing word problems on students' motivation and ability to write correct mathematical expressions. Data from weekly quizzes and student attitude surveys revealed student motivation and achievement were both enhanced. (MKP)

The Comprehensive School Mathematics Program (CSMP) is a program of CEMREL, Inc., one of the national educational laboratories, and was funded by the National Institute of Education (NIE). Its major purpose is the development of curriculum materials for grades kindergarten through 6. This volume describes non-test data collected in spring 1980…

Describes a project involving student journal writing designed to examine middle graders' mathematical thinking and disposition. Teachers gained insight into students' conceptual and procedural knowledge and attitudes toward mathematics. Students' responses suggested that they found journals to be a way of sharing their thoughts about mathematics,…

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…

Six classes of fifth- and sixth-grade students were taught a unit on probability. Following the lesson, students were interviewed about their thought processes. Students' reports of their understanding of the lesson and their use of specific cognitive strategies were related to achievement. (Author/BW)

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…

One framework for conceptualizing the study of classroom effects on student motivation asserts that students' perceptions of the classroom environment mediate the relationship between teacher practices and student performance outcomes. This study examined within- and between-classroom effects on 356 fifth-grade students' perceptions of the quality…

Classroom decision-making was conceptualized within the framework of person-environment fit. A longitudinal sample of 2239 sixth graders in 117 mathematics classrooms were surveyed. The findings include: (1) students typically report fewer decision-making opportunities than they think they should have in their mathematics classrooms; (2) students…

A sample of 160 fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students in a Baltimore City (Maryland) magnet school participated in an experimental study on the effects within cross-race and cross-sex friendships on a mathematics program that used Team Assisted Individualization (TAI). TAI is an instructional method that combines individualized instruction with…

Discusses a children's television show, "The Math Connection," which shows connections between mathematics and daily pursuits of local workers and tries to affect attitudes of students and teachers toward mathematics. Describes the content and structure and the open-ended problems on which students work to prepare for the show. (MKR)

This study examined the effect of cooperative learning on two female sixth-grade students' attitudes toward mathematics. The students (one Caucasian, one African-American) were individually interviewed to obtain background information relevant to the study. An initial survey was also given to 17 sixth-graders to obtain general attitudes of…

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…

In many upper-elementary school classrooms, students are given few decision-making prerogatives. In junior high school, it becomes increasingly rare for them to receive the decision-making opportunities they believe they should have. Both person-environment fit theory and pawn theory would predict that a failure to provide students with such…