Students best learn mathematics when they go through the process of constructing it. Instead of memorizing rules or algorithms, students should discover math content through experiments, games, or other activities. (Breaking the Barriers, 1992)

There are three ways to organize how students will interact in a classroom, competitive learning, individualistic learning, cooperative learning. Researchers have looked at the effect of these three approaches on student achievement. In reports by Johnson and Johnson (1984) and others, teachers that use cooperative learning found that:

Cooperative learning produces higher levels of achievement than competitive or individualistic learning. The discussion that takes place in cooperative learning groups promotes discovery and the development of higher quality cognitive strategies. Conflicts of ideas or opinions can increase motivation, resulting in higher achievement and retention of the content, and produce a greater depth of understanding. The discussion in groups helps store the information in long-term memory, generally increasing achievement. Understanding and adjusting for special needs students is taken on by the students in the group.

There are four parts of cooperative learning. These include positive interdependence, individual accountability, cooperative skills, and assessment. Some of these ideas are clearly imbedded in the Math Thematics curriculum, while others are achieved by teaching students the appropriate skills. The curriculum clearly stated when group work is most appropriate. About one-third of the explorations involve cooperative groups. The remaining activities can be done in a variety of ways and their structure is left up to the teacher. There are many facets and layers to cooperative learning. Implementing cooperative learning takes work and it may be best to focus on one part of cooperative learning at a time then later bring in other aspects.

The Math Thematics curriculum was written for a broad range of academic abilities and learning styles. The goal of the program is to reach all students. This is accomplished through the use of cooperative groups, visual representations, manipulatives, and discovery learning. Middle grade students are at a variety of operational levels. The curriculum uses hands-on concrete models whenever possible and appropriate. Pictures and symbolic representations are also shown to help students make the transition from concrete to the symbolic. The curriculum provides teachers with many projects and exercises to enrich the learning of gifted students and has extra skill practice for those who need it.