In this paper, the hypothesis that Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) is a characteristic of Down syndrome (DS) is proposed. Implications for the hypothesis are addressed: If it were to be confirmed that DS implies DD, what would be the consequences for the mathematics education of learners with DS? The use of prosthetic devices to overcome the…

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…

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…

The basis of this intervention study is a distinction between numerical calculus and relational calculus. The former refers to numerical calculations and the latter to the analysis of the quantitative relations in mathematical problems. The inverse relation between addition and subtraction is relevant to both kinds of calculus, but so far research…

This experiment tested the effect that calculator use had on 200 randomly assigned college students' mathematical performance. The purposes of the current experiment were twofold: to measure the level of mathematical preparation of current college students, and to test whether calculators improve mathematical performance in such students as it…

Why is subsequent recall sometimes better for self-generated answers than for answers obtained from an external source (e.g., calculator)? In this study, we explore the relative contribution of 2 processes, recall attempts and self-computation, to this "generation effect" (i.e., enhanced answer recall relative to when problems are practiced with a…

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 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…

Handheld calculators have been used on the job for more than 30 years, yet the degree to which these devices can affect performance on employment tests of mathematical ability has not been thoroughly examined. This study used a within-subjects research design (N = 167) to investigate the effects of calculator use on test score reliability, test…

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…

People remember information better if they generate the information while studying rather than read the information. However, prior research has not investigated whether this generation effect extends to related but unstudied items and has not been conducted in classroom settings. We compared third graders' success on studied and unstudied…

An eight-step teaching guide to help elementary students become familiar with electronic calculators. (Author/SJL)

The author points out the usefulness of the ALP minicalculator program with learning disabled learners and introduces a novel aspect of the program--a new method of dealing with fractions via the calculator in which decimal answers are converted to equivalent fractions. (SBH)