Technology has become a major force in developing curricula and educational practice in mathematics education internationally. While many technologies are important in affluent developed countries, the hand-held calculator continues to be the technology most likely to be available to students when and where they need it. Modern calculators have…

Numeracy needs of nursing students are often underestimated by students when they enter university. Even when students are aware of the mathematics required, students underestimate or overestimate the skills they have. Research has highlighted the mathematics and numeracy skills required of nurses and nursing students and numerous studies have…

There are opposing views about calculator use in school mathematics. This paper reports on a study that investigated the arithmetic proficiency of mathematics 1 university students and the effects of calculator usage at school level on their proficiency. The study followed a descriptive survey design involving the use of questionnaire and data…

In this article, the authors show how students can form familiar geometric figures on the calculator keypad and generate numbers that are all divisible by a common number. Students are intrigued by the results and want to know "why it works". The activities can be presented and students given an extended amount of time to think about…

This document shows the use of the calculator to assist in solving different divisions of students in fourth grade of elementary school, through the interaction in its components (divisor, dividend, quotient and remainder). Worksheets were used with a constructivist approach, which provided the student self-assessment tests. The teacher's role was…

Two intervention studies are described. Both were designed to study the effects of teaching children about the inverse relation between addition and subtraction. The interventions were successful with 8-year-old children in Study 1 and to a limited extent with 5-year-old children in Study 2. In Study 1 teaching children about inversion increased…

Found that, after extracting an arithmetic problem from a real situation and working out an answer, 6- to 12-year-olds with learning difficulties in math were unable to reapply the answer to the situation. Also found that the children, in a hypothetical situation, were unable to use token money, or to do calculations on paper or with an electronic…

Examines the idea that the arithmetic calculator can act as a cognitive tool, supporting the amplification or reorganization of systems of thought. Examples were found in which use of the calculator helped pupils work with unusual problem representations and adapt solution strategies in which they focused on planning and monitoring computations…

We present in this paper five case studies of instrumental genesis of number-theoretic concepts and techniques involving multiples, divisors, and numerical decomposition. The pupils, who were 12 to 15 years old, used the multi-line screen display of the graphing calculator to explore numerical tasks related to the "Five steps to zero"…

The Calculators in Primary Mathematics Project in Australia was a long-term investigation into the effects of the introduction of calculators on the learning and teaching of primary mathematics. The Australian project commenced with children who were in kindergarten and grade 1 in 1990, moving up through the schools to grade 4 level by 1993.…

Mathematics games are often used in the classroom as a reward or warm-up activity before the "real" learning takes place. Many teachers have witnessed how useful games are for tuning-in students to the impending mathematics lesson. However, have teachers considered playing games as the central part of the lesson? This article explores…

NCTM Past President Cathy L. Seeley shares her messages on today's most relevant topics and issues in education. Based on Cathy L. Seeley's award-winning NCTM President's Messages, and including dozens of new messages, this must-have K-12 resource offers straight talk and common sense about some of today's most important, thought-provoking issues…

This book is a collection of teaching strategies and activities for teachers of secondary mathematics. This volume is the product of a workshop that focused on student understanding of directed numbers. Suggested teaching methods include introducing the number concept, using a number line, number strips, monograms, bottle top addition and…

The first volume of this proceedings contains the papers presented at the 21st annual meeting of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. Papers include: (1) "Research, Rhetoric and Reality" (Lyn English); (2) "I Keep Six Honest Serving Men" (Peter Galbraith); (3) "The Intension/Intention of Teaching…

The second volume of this proceedings contains the papers presented at the 21st annual meeting of the Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. Full papers include: (1) "Teachers Interpreting Algebra: Teachers' Views about the Nature of Algebra" (Brenda Menzel and David Clarke); (2) "Long Odds: Longitudinal Development of…