Two decades ago, in an award-winning paper, Dan Kennedy (1995) likened learning mathematics to climbing a tree, for which there was only one way to climb: up a large and solid trunk. In the limited time that is available, many students give up the climb, impede others, fall off the trunk, or fail to climb the tree sufficiently well. In the case of…

More than twenty years after the introduction of the first handheld graphing calculator the mathematics community appears to still be struggling with the use of technology in the teaching and learning of mathematics. One major venue for arguments against technology use in the teaching and learning of mathematics is the news magazines of…

When taking mathematics courses, students will sometimes ask their recurring question, "When will I ever use this in real life?" Educators are often unable to provide a direct connection between what they are teaching in the classroom and a real-life application. However, when such an opportunity does arise, they should seize it and…

This study assessed if students with and without disabilities used calculators (fourfunction, scientific, or graphing) to solve mathematics assessment problems and whether using calculators improved their performance. Participants were sixth and seventh-grade students educated with either National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded or traditional…

This thesis explored the history of calculator usage in mathematics classrooms in the United States since 1975 with a focus on the attitudes of parents, educators, and national organizations. The influence of historical events, people, organizations, research, and trends was explored in depth. Studying the changes that calculators have brought to…

Computer-based instruction (CBI) programs have been implemented in classrooms for almost three decades. One advantage of CBI includes allowing the user to tailor instruction to their particular style of learning (Slavin & Lake, 2009). An essential part of individualizing CBI involves the students use of active electronic support tools, which…

The solutions of the discrete logistic growth model based on a difference equation and the continuous logistic growth model based on a differential equation are compared and contrasted. The investigation is conducted using a dynamic interactive spreadsheet. (Contains 5 figures.)

Little is known about how best to teach mathematics to students with learning disabilities. This study explored the performance and self-reported calculator use of 13 sixth-grade and 15 seventh-grade students with learning disabilities educated in either standards-based or traditional mathematics curricula on multiple-choice and open-ended…

This research focuses on the graphics calculator in calculus and its impact on students' abilities to work with graphical, numerical, and symbolic representations. Three courses are compared, two of which are taught with less emphasis on the use of graphing calculators. The format of the course emphasizing calculator use is more traditional than…

Presents strategies that utilize graphing calculators and computer software to help students understand the concept of minimizing the squared residuals to find the line of best fit. Includes directions for least-squares drawings using a variety of technologies. (DDR)

Describes the results of a teacher's exploration of the effects of using graphing calculators in calculus instruction in sections other than those that are experimental. Two experimental and two traditional sections of Calculus I and II participated in the study. (DDR)

Use of calculators rather than computers or paper and pencil when calculators can do the job is stressed. When the use of calculators is more appropriate is indicated. (MNS)

Describes a program written for a programmable pocket calculator that computes the frequency response of linear systems. (Author)

This paper demonstrates how calculators may be used to motivate a concept called infinite composition of functions. Several mathematical topics, such as continued square roots, continued fractions, and infinite products are treated and discussed as special cases. (Author/MK)