Until recently there had been relatively little integration of programs of research on teaching, learning, curriculum, and assessment. However, in the last few years it has become increasingly apparent that a more unified program of research is needed to acquire an understanding of teaching and learning in schools that will inform curriculum development and assessment. The chapters in this volume represent a first step toward an integration of research paradigms in one clearly specified mathematical domain. Integrating a number of different research perspectives is a complex task, and ways...

This volume focuses on the important mathematical idea of functions which can be dynamically represented with technology in ways that have not been possible previously. The book's editors contend that as a result of recent technological developments and the integrated knowledge available from research on teaching, instruction, students' thinking and assessment, we are faced with an unprecedented opportunity for making dramatic curriculum change.

The research reported in this book provides reliable evidence on and knowledge about mathematics and science instruction that emphasizes student understanding--instruction consistent with the needs of students who will be citizens in an increasingly demanding technological world. The National Center for Improving Student Learning in Mathematics and Science--established in 1996 as a research center and funded by the U.S. Department of Education--was instrumental in developing instructional practices supportive of high student achievement in and understanding of mathematics and science...

Until recently there had been relatively little integration of programs of research on teaching, learning, curriculum, and assessment. However, in the last few years it has become increasingly apparent that a more unified program of research is needed to acquire an understanding of teaching and learning in schools that will inform curriculum development and assessment. The chapters in this volume represent a first step toward an integration of research paradigms in one clearly specified mathematical domain.

Integrating a number of different research perspectives is a complex task, and...