Forty Swedish elementary students, 7-12 years of age and working in pairs, constructed a series of bar graphs and pie charts using a graphing application software as an instructional tool under the guidance of the researcher. After successive withdrawal of help, each pair drew a small number of graphic displays manually at the end of the data…

Computer software with graphic representations of functions can teach algebraic concepts, or can blur or obscure concepts of great importance. Making good use and bad use of visual imagery are each discussed. Then a general theory of interpretation of graphs is proposed, and a list of examples is presented. (MNS)

Within mathematics education, classroom teachers, educational researchers, and instructional designers share the common goals of understanding and improving the teaching and learning of mathematics. Teachers work to help students learn; researchers study how people learn and teach mathematics; and designers develop instructional materials to…