Toward a constructivist perspective: The impact of a mathematics teacher inservice program on students

A constructivist-oriented inservice program provided teachers of mathematics (K-12) with intensive two-week summer institutes and weekly classroom follow-up. Pre- and post-program data on student outcomes indicate that, along with transformations in the nature and quality of mathematics activity in the classroom, students' beliefs about learning mathematics changed and elementary students' attitudes toward mathematics improved. Although the instruction they now received focused more on conceptual understanding and less on computational skill, students' scores on standardized tests assessing routine knowledge were maintained.