The use of handheld CAS technology in undergraduate mathematics courses in Australia is paradoxically shrinking under sustained disapproval or disdain from the professional mathematics community. Mathematics education specialists argue with their mathematics colleagues over a range of issues in course development and this use of CAS or even…

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of Microsoft Math Tool (graphical calculator) on students' achievement in the linear function. The study employed Quasi-experimental research design (Pre-test Post-test two group designs). A total of ninety-eight (98) students were selected for the study from two different Senior High Schools…

The senior school Mathematics syllabus is often restricted to the study of single variable differential equations of the first order. Unfortunately most real life examples do not follow such types of relations. In addition, very few differential equations in real life have exact solutions that can be expressed in finite terms. Even if the solution…

In this article, the author focuses on possible ways to develop the concepts of joint variation and function through the upper primary and lower secondary years of education. The examples demonstrate the building of a range of important mathematical ideas by modelling life-related situations using students' informal and intuitive knowledge. Over…

Considers some changes that the use of graphics calculators impose on the assessment of calculus and mathematical modeling at the undergraduate level. Suggests some of the ways in which the assessment of mathematical tasks can be modified as the mechanics of calculation become routine and questions of analysis and interpretation assume greater…

Discusses a real-world problem-solving lesson that emerged when a high school math teacher used a motion detector with a CBL and graphing calculator to obtain the bounce data of a ping-pong ball. Describes the lesson in which students collect bad data then fill in the missing parabolas that result using critical components of parabolas and…

This article describes a classroom activity in which a solar eclipse is simulated and a mathematical model is developed to explain the data. Students use manipulative devices and graphing calculators to carry out the experiment and then compare their results to those collected in Koolymilka, Australia, during the 2002 eclipse.

Presents a secondary classroom investigation into mathematical modeling techniques with the graphing calculator using a match stick puzzle. Geometric models, through their corresponding area formulas, are constructed, tested, and analyzed graphically to fit specified problem conditions. (Author/MKR)

In science, inquiry is used as students explore important and interesting questions concerning the world around them. In mathematics, one contemporary inquiry approach is to create models that describe real phenomena. Creating mathematical models using spreadsheets can help students learn at deep levels in both science and mathematics, and give…

Aims for students to use a combination of stochastic ideas to simulate a basketball tournament. Uses the TI-83 calculator in the activity to simulate the binomial distribution. (KHR)

Hand-held data collection technology allows for access to real-world data collection--at any other time and almost any place. Is the use of data and its collection desirable to the mathematical learning process? The answer is a resounding yes! Not only can significant mathematical ideas be taught in the process; colleagues are also helped in the…

Presents four activities that use graphing calculators, spreadsheets, and graphing software to model population growth. (MKR)

Presents examples of students' work when they are engaged in problem solving and reasoning tasks as they determine how to fill bottles with water to create musical notes by blowing across the tops of the bottles, and as they create mathematical models that represent these notes. (ASK)

Guides students through the process of designing a window. Allows them to use technology and a variety of representations while maximizing and minimizing the dimensions based on cost and light. Includes activity sheets. (Author/NB)

The Core-Plus Mathematics Project (CPMP) is a four-year program emphasizing mathematical modeling, featuring full use of graphing calculators, building on the theme of mathematics as sense-making, and involving investigations of real-life contexts that lead to reinventing important mathematics. (MKR)