• the ways in which "traditional" and "reform oriented" mathematics teaching approaches can impact student attitude, beliefs, and achievement;
• the effectiveness of different teaching methods in preparing students for the demands of the "real world" and the 21st century;
• the impact of tracking and heterogeneous ability grouping; and
• gender and teaching styles--the potential of different teaching approaches for the attainment of equity.
The book draws some radical new conclusions about the ways that traditional teaching methods lead to limited forms of knowledge that are ineffective in non-school settings.
This edition has been revised for the North American market to show the relevance of the study results in light of the U. S. reform movement, the "math wars" and debates about teachers, assessment, and tracking. The details of the study have been rewritten for an American audience and the results are compared with research conducted in the U. S. This is an important volume for mathematics teachers and researchers, education policymakers, and for students in mathematics education courses.