This study ... compare[s] the effectiveness of the application of a technological system for teaching mathematics to the method of instruction presently used in the school system's mathematics program (hereafter referred to a traditional) for selected sixth grade students achieving in stanine 2, 3 and 4 according to the mathematics section of the California Test of Basic Skills.

The idea of the ICMI Study 13 is outlined as follows: Education in any social environment is influenced in many ways by the traditions of these environments. This study brings together leading experts to research and report on mathematics education in a global context. Mathematics education faces a split phenomenon of difference and correspondence. A study attempting a comparison between mathematics education in different traditions will be helpful to understanding this phenomenon.

This book contributes to both mathematical problem solving and the communication of mathematics by students, and the role of personal and home technologies in learning beyond school. It does this by reporting on major results and implications of the Problem@Web project that investigated youngsters’ mathematical problem solving and, in particular, their use of digital technologies in tackling, and communicating the results of their problem solving, in environments beyond school. The book has two focuses: Mathematical problem solving skills and strategies, forms of representing and expressing mathematical thinking, technological-based solutions; and students ́ and teachers ́ perspectives on mathematics learning, especially school compared to beyond-school mathematics.