During their middle and early high school years, students generally finalise their attitude towards mathematics and their perception of themselves as students of mathematics, in terms of aptitude, motivation, interest, and competence. Therefore, giving them varied opportunities to foster a positive and successful approach to the study of…

When teaching transformations of functions, teachers typically have students vary the coefficients of equations and examine the resulting changes in the graph. This approach, however, may lead students to memorise rules related to transformations. Students need opportunities to think deeply about transformations beyond superficial observations…

Archimedes, the famous Greek mathematician, lived from 287 BCE until approximately 212 BCE. He thought that the figure of two semi-circles on a straight line enclosed by a larger semi-circle resembled a shoemaker's knife. Archimedes called this figure an "arbelos" since arbelos is the Greek word for a shoemaker's knife. The author describes the…

In this article, the author focuses on possible ways to develop the concepts of joint variation and function through the upper primary and lower secondary years of education. The examples demonstrate the building of a range of important mathematical ideas by modelling life-related situations using students' informal and intuitive knowledge. Over…

Illustrates the ease with which programs occupying only a single command line of a graphics calculator can be constructed. (MKR)

For mathematics teachers who are continually looking for ways in which to engage their students in the learning process, the capabilities offered by technology answer the call. Whether the technology comprises computer based applications or graphics calculators, often boring aspects can be bypassed so that students can work on the "good…

Discusses the appropriateness of lower secondary school students using graphics calculators instead of scientific calculators. (ASK)

Discusses the use of Calculator Based Ranger (CBR) in mathematics classrooms. Provides a classroom activity in which students graph walking in different directions and speeds. Presents student work and testing. (ASK)

Reviews 10 years of graphing calculators. Examines the issues associated with them and attempts to confront some questions such as, for the teacher, whether graphing calculators should be used in instruction. (ASK)

Offers a few examples of the ease with which science, mathematics, and technology can converge. Illustrates some of the potential of Calculator-Based Laboratory (CBL) and Calculator-Based Ranger (CBR) to study mathematics. (ASK)

Discusses the benefits of new technologies, especially graphing calculators, in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Presents two activities for teaching algebra and regression using graphing calculators. (ASK)

Presents an activity using the familiar fairy tale "Cinderella" to provide the context for stimulating mathematical thinking about a real life problem. Makes use of graphing calculator technology to investigate the relationship between shoe sizes and shoe lengths. (ASK)

Shares observations on the use of graphing calculators based on anecdotal evidence and conversations with teachers in the United States. Compares these issues according to U.S. and Australian educational systems. Discusses the acceptance of calculators into the U.S. educational system, teacher expertise levels, and equity issues. (ASK)

This article describes a project in which certain key concepts in probability were explored using graphics calculators with year 10 students. The lessons were conducted in the regular classroom where students were provided with a Casio CFX 9850 GB PLUS graphics calculator with which they were familiar from year 9. The participants in the…

Identifies and describes some of the mathematics curriculum issues associated with graphing calculators such as equity, role of calculators, content and sequencing, textbook design, learning to use a calculator, worksheets, student decision-making, calculator dependence, assessment, electronic algorithms, multiplying choices, calculator…