This article gives an example for using Dynamic Geometry Software to encourage making conjectures, reasoning, and experiencing mathematics as a process.

The concept of function is a central but difficult topic in secondary school mathematics curricula, which encompasses a transition from an operational to a structural view. The question in this paper is how the use of computer tools may foster this transition. With domain-specific pedagogical knowledge on the learning of function as a point of…

Formal mathematical methods remain, for most high school students, mysterious, artificial and not a part of their regular intuitive thinking. The authors develop some themes that could lead to a radically new approach. According to this thesis, the teaching of programming languages as a regular part of academic progress can contribute effectively…

Explores the role of proof in mathematics education and provides justification for its importance in the curriculum. Discusses three applications of dynamic geometry software--heuristics, exploration, and visualization--as tools in the teaching of proof and as potential challenges to the importance of proof. (Author/MM)

Reports on a long-term teaching experiment carried out in the 9th and 10th grades of a scientific high school as part of a larger research project. Aims to clarify the role of a particular software, Cabri Geometry, in the teaching/learning process. Focuses on the social construction of knowledge. (Author/MM)

Discusses geometry and Dynamical Geometry Software (DGS). Analyses the way DGS-use influences traditional geometry. Highlights changes in the interactions between geometry, computers, and DGS and human users, focusing on changes in the teaching and learning of geometry. Concludes that DGS deeply changes geometry if it is taken as a human activity…

Presents two spreadsheets for middle school students applying Polya's heuristic to help develop number sense, reasoning abilities, and problem-solving skills. Spreadsheet 1, "the coin problem," allows students to vary coin quantities to total $8.32. Spreadsheet 2, "ratios," develops number relationships while finding 3 3-digit…

This study examined whether analogy or means-ends strategies (heuristics) would be used to solve geometric puzzle-like problems, which were generated by a microcomputer. The subjects in the two-group experiment were undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory psychology course at Potsdam College (New York). One group of subjects learned…

One of the strengths of the Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of Mathematics (PCTM) is that it gives mathematicians and mathematics educators the opportunity to exchange and contribute to each other's professional growth. The topic for this 1985 yearbook, the first of a proposed ongoing series, has been chosen to coincide with the annual PCTM…

One of the strengths of the Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of Mathematics (PCTM) is that it gives mathematicians and mathematics educators the opportunity to exchange and contribute to each other's professional growth. The topic for each yearbook is chosen to coincide with the annual PCTM meeting. This 1986 yearbook contains 17 articles related…