HOW DO STUDENTS ADJUST TO FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES IN MATHEMATICS CURRICULA?

The “Navigating Mathematical Transitions ” project is a three-year effort to examine how high school and college students cope with deep changes in mathematics curriculum and teaching. It examines and analyzes students ’ experiences as they move between “traditional ” mathematics curricula and those inspired by the NCTM Standards (1989). This paper presents an overview of our conceptualization of mathematical transitions, our methods for studying them, and our initial analyses of Year 1 data, including our attempt to characterize classroom teaching, some important differences that students report, and a framework for analyzing those differences. Our conference presentation will present a deeper and more elaborate analysis. Project Objectives Ten years after the publication of the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards (1989), the design of curricula based on these standards is complete; implementation is well underway; and evaluation and assessment studies are appearing (e. g., Schoen, Hirsch, & Ziebarth, 1998; Hoover, Zawojewski, & Ridgway, 1997). But very little attention has been paid to the experience of students who move between “traditional ” and “reform ” curricula and pedagogy that appear to differ dramatically in their conceptions of thinking, knowing, and doing mathematics