The Birthday Paradox problem can be investigated either with a carefully constructed spreadsheet (for greatest precision) or a calculator process (for reasonable precision). A number of ways of approaching this problem as a class activity are provided.

Prospective teachers and cryptography students use programming, statistics and guile to enrich both their courses.

This paper investigates students' mathematical modeling activity in data-rich modeling tasks. It aims at gaining insight into how students develop meaning when modeling data-rich situations and the mathematical models produced. A tendency to model a particular dataset, rather than the phenomenon that the dataset is a particular instance of, has…

Tossing a fair coin 1000 times can have an unexpected result. In the activities presented here, players keep track of the accumulated total for heads and tails after each toss, noting which player is in the lead or whether the players are tied. The winner is the player who was in the lead for the higher number of turns over the course of the game.…

Inclusion and differentiation--hallmarks of the current educational system--require a paradigm shift in the way that educators run their classrooms. This article enumerates the need for techno-kinesthetic, visually based activities and offers an example of a calculator-based programming activity that addresses that need. After discussing the use…

We used population-based, longitudinal data to investigate the relation between mathematics instructional practices used by first-grade teachers in the United States and the mathematics achievement of their students. Factor analysis identified four types of instructional activities (i.e., teacher-directed, student-centered,…

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…

The study documents the extent to which high school teachers reflect on their need to revise and extend their mathematical and practicing knowledge. In this context, teachers worked on a set of tasks as a part of an inquiring community that promoted the use of different computational tools in problem solving approaches. Results indicated that the…

Opportunity to Learn (OTL) stems from the basic premise that there is an important relationship between the quality and intensity of classroom instruction and students' levels of academic success. For many students with disabilities, an emphasis on OTL has become national priority, yet measuring its impact is a complex challenge. The first purpose…

Five activities are presented in this student workbook on using the electronic calculator. Following the directions for using the machine, problems are given on multiplying and dividing, finding percentages, calculating the area of assorted polygons, changing fractions to decimals, and finding squares and square roots. (JH)

Student access to programmable calculators and computer terminals, coupled with a familiarity with baseball, provides opportunities to enhance their understanding of the binomial distribution and other aspects of analysis. (MP)

The calculator is used to obtain values for use in graphing curves. Three worksheets are included. (MP)

References on calculators are provided for elementary school teachers. These references (grouped according to background reading, ideas for students and teachers, and child-ready material) include author(s), title, source, and a brief description. (JN)

An example is given of a class of problems whose solutions require the use of a scientific calculator in order to plot the graphs. (MP)

Described is a calculator race that is designed to require a fast touch with the calculator and also the ability to apply mathematical knowledge. Sample questions are given. (MP)