In this paper, we report a pilot study on engaging a group of undergraduate students to explore the limits of sin(x)/x and tan(x)/x as x approaches to 0, with the use of non-graphic scientific calculators. By comparing the results in the pretest and the post-test, we found that the students had improvements in the tested items, which involved the…

In two experiments, we studied how people's strategy choices emerge through an initial and then a more considered evaluation of available strategies. The experiments employed a computer-based paradigm where participants solved multiplication problems using mental and calculator solutions. In addition to recording responses and solution times, we…

This paper reports on a project to improve Beginning Algebra students' understanding of basic algebraic concepts through fully integrated use of the TI-83 graphing calculator. The methodology incorporated an intervention case study including approximately 700 Beginning Algebra students at an open-door community college of 8,500 students in the…

Reports on how students managed some technical aspects of graphics calculators as they used them to study graphs of straight lines and parabolas. Identifies three common student difficulties: (1) tendency to be unduly influenced by the jagged appearance of graphs; (2) poor understanding of the zoom operation; and (3) limited grasp of the processes…

Discusses the problems of conceptualization of the function limit in technological environments (principally graphing calculators today and symbolic calculators tomorrow) that are gradually being adopted in precalculus teaching. Explains how the instrumentation process and the conceptualization process are dependent on each other. Sets forth a…

Presents a study using a module of work based on a graphing calculator that provided an environment where students could experience some aspects of variables and begin to build an understanding of them. Graphing calculators proved to be an instrument for achieving significant improvement in student understanding, which had often proved difficult…

Presents an inquiry into students' conceptual development of a graphics calculator function for direction. Discusses reflective thinking and reflective enculturation, operational and structural understanding, and situated abstraction. (Contains 33 references.) (Author/ASK)

The purpose of this study was to investigate students developing understanding of concepts related to rate of change. Twenty students first participated in a rate of change curriculum unit as part of an after school math and technology program. During the unit, students used motion detectors and related graphing software to create and analyze…

Twelve research reports related to mathematics education are abstracted and analyzed. Three of the reports deal with aspects of learning theory, two with student characteristics, and one each with calculators, problem solving, secondary mathematics curriculum changes in Australia, sex differences, teaching methods, and tutoring strategies. The…

This paper presents learning tasks of a new type that are made possible by dynamic geometry software and discusses reasons why it takes time for teachers to design and use such tasks. The paper is divided into four sections: (1) The Spatial and the Theoretical; (2) Tasks in Dynamic Geometry Software Fostering the Learning of Geometry; (3) The…

The effective use of technology in the mathematics classroom depends on the interaction between students and their peers, students and teacher, and students and technology. This report describes a study of the introduction of a cognitive teaching model for using graphing calculators in a secondary mathematics classroom in Hong Kong. Episodes of…

Develops an experimental teaching method emphasizing the nature of functions including graphical representation in an introductory college physics course (mechanics). Examines the effects of this method on student's problem solving and attitude toward physics. (YP)

Fourteen research reports related to mathematics education are abstracted and analyzed. Five studies deal with aspects of mathematics instruction, and there are four reports each on mathematics achievement and on two cognitive processes. The remaining items concern calculators, attitudes, and aptitude-treatment interaction. Research related to…

This document features the experiences of three science teachers who video and audiotaped classroom proceedings in order to go back over what was said in classroom events, to explore the intentions and ideas that were perhaps not fully understood at the time. Mary DiSchino, who teaches 3rd and 4th graders, teaches a science curriculum which she…

Twelve research reports related to mathematics education are abstracted and analyzed. Three of the reports deal with aspects of learning theory, three with topics in mathematics instruction (fractions, problem solving, and application orientation), two with aspects of computer assisted instruction, and one each with advanced placement,…