Despite the availability of and pressures to incorporate educational technology into secondary curriculum, schools have not shown that technology is being adequately used by educators or that students in fact know how to use them. In particular, many teachers are not using technology such as graphing calculators as an instructional mathematics…

The Program for International Assessment tested students in mathematics from 41 countries and found that students in the United States ranked in the lowest percentile. This struggle with math among youth in the United States prompted this quasi-experimental quantitative study about using interactive technology to engage and motivate 9th grade…

This technology report alerts upper-division undergraduate chemistry faculty and lecturers to the use of Texas Instruments emulators as virtual graphing calculators. These may be used in multimedia lectures to instruct students on the use of their graphing calculators to obtain solutions to complex chemical problems. (Contains 1 figure.)

Lesson starts are transitional events which may cause management problems for teachers. This study sought junior secondary school mathematics teachers' beliefs about calculator use in mathematics instruction in Botswana and was descriptive in nature adopting a survey design. The sample of seventeen (17) mathematics teachers from four (4) junior…

Card sorting has the potential to provide opportunities for exploration of a variety of topics and levels. In a card-sorting task, each participant is presented with a set of cards--each of which depicts a relationship--and is asked to sort the cards into categories that make sense to him or her. The concept of function is critical to…

Over 2 years a small group of middle school mathematics teachers' beliefs, attitudes, and practices were investigated in order to transform their practice to an inquiry-based, technology-rich model. Research has suggested that technology and pedagogical innovations should be introduced together, so that teachers learn mathematics in the way their…

All common fractions can be written in decimal form. In this Discovery article, the author suggests that teachers ask their students to calculate the decimals by actually doing the divisions themselves, and later on they can use a calculator to check their answers. This article presents a lesson based on the research of Bolt (1982).

In this culture of instantaneous technology, students are familiar with immediate feedback. To maintain student engagement, it is vital for teachers to create similarly interactive experiences. Student-centered instruction is important in connecting students to key mathematical concepts. If the connection is not obvious, they may be unaware of…

Traditionally, mathematics has been taught using a very direct approach which the teacher explains the procedure to solve a problem and the students use pencil and paper to solve the problem. However, a variety of alternative approaches to mathematics have surfaced from a number of different directions. The purpose of this study was to examine the…

This document presents a review of evidence commissioned by the Education Endowment Foundation to inform the guidance document "Improving Mathematics in Key Stages Two and Three" (Education Endowment Foundation, 2017). The review draws on a substantial parallel study by the same research team, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, which…

Derivation of the law of radioactive decay is considered without prior knowledge of calculus or the exponential series. Calculus notation and exponential functions are used because ultimately they cannot be avoided, but they are introduced in a simple way and explained as needed. (Contains 10 figures, 1 box, and 1 table.)

This paper looks at research based models that have been put forward to describe how teacher use of technology develops. There have been a variety of studies that have proposed levels that describe teacher use of technology and identify the different aspects of use that distinguish these levels. Very few of these studies have shown how teachers…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of preservice mathematics teachers' understanding of inequalities. The design of the study was a multi-case study of secondary mathematics education preservice teachers with a focus on their understanding and the lessons that they plan and implement. Data from individual interviews,…

The financial calculator is incorporated in finance education. In class, the instructor shows students how to use the financial calculator's function keys to solve time value of money (TVM) related problems efficiently. The fundamental finance course is required for all majors in the business school. Some students, especially…

College calculus teaches students important mathematical concepts and skills. The course also has a substantial impact on students' attitude toward mathematics, affecting their career aspirations and desires to take more mathematics. This national US study of 3103 students at 123 colleges and universities tracks changes in students'…