One thing that always comes up when our math department discusses non-standard algorithms is long division of polynomials. Doesn't seem like any non-standard algorithm is easily applied there. Changing the focus a little: I've been thinking of the importance of student motivation in learning a programming language. I've always found The Python Challenge to be quite motivating to get me writing code and learning more about Python. I don't know how it could be done, but could a similar approach be used to supplement a middle or high school programming class? Any ideas? Richard ----- Original Message ---- From: Jay Bloodworth <jbloodworth@sc.rr.com> .... * (a + b)^2 = a^2 + 2ab + b^2, not a^2 + b^2. Here there is the standard geometric area model for multiplication. Sometimes I present multiplication with the model, sometimes not. It doesn't seem to change the error rate..... ____________________________________________________________________________________ Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out Yahoo! Autos new Car Finder tool. http://autos.yahoo.com/carfinder/