Windmill images and shapes have a long history in geometry and can be found in problems in different mathematical contexts. In this paper, we share and discuss various problems involving windmill shapes and solutions from geometry, algebra, to elementary number theory. These problems can be used, separately or together, for students to explore…

In this paper we studied the personal mathematical work of 14 students in initial teacher training, in their first year of studies at a public university in Chile, based on two tasks on complex numbers. These tasks were set in a Computer Aided Assessment System (CAA) based on Moodle and Wiris and it was proposed to solve them using different…

The number line is a model that is used to measure, count, order and even operate, which requires a symbolic interpretation. Then, we investigate the conceptions of 72 in service secondary teachers, when they manage the model of the number line associated with order, spatial location and the relative position between numbers and marks. In a…

Connecting theory and practice in teaching is sometimes difficult, as it requires expensive or delicate equipment, thus limiting the teacher to giving demonstrations in which students are passive participants. Numerical mathematics, as an applied discipline, should be taught on real world examples. By using inexpensive Arduino hardware, we can…

This research synthesizes studies that used a Digitalized Interactive Component (DIC) to assess K-12 student mathematics performance during Computer-based-Assessments (CBAs) in mathematics. A systematic search identified ten studies that categorized existing DICs according to the tools that provided language assistance to students and tools that…

The availability of sophisticated computer programs such as "Wolfram Alpha" has made many problems found in the secondary mathematics curriculum somewhat obsolete for they can be easily solved by the software. Against this background, an interplay between the power of a modern tool of technology and educational constraints it presents is…

For more than one hundred years teachers have paddled beside the great ocean of mathematical adventure. Between them they have taught millions of young people. A few have dived in and kept swimming, some have lingered on the shore playing in pools, but most have dipped their toes in and run like heck in the other direction never to return. There…

"Cognitive Tutor[R] Algebra I," a full year course, delivers instruction in single variable data, simplifying linear expressions, mathematical modeling, solving systems with linear equations, problem solving using proportional reasoning, and powers and exponents. Students work at their own pace to develop problem-solving skills. The…

This note describes a method for evaluating the sums of the m -th powers of n consecutive terms of a general arithmetic sequence: { S[subscript m] = 0, 1, 2,...}. The method is based on the use of a differential operator that is repeatedly applied to a generating function. A known linear recurrence is then obtained and the m-th sum, S[subscript…

Calculators can be used in primary schools in a number of situations. They are most beneficial when working with large numbers, dealing with real data that leads to complex calculations, performing repetitive calculations, developing concepts, estimating and checking, problem solving, and looking for patterns and/or relationships. But what if the…

Use of a microcomputer spreadsheet program to help students understand long division is described. An example of a problem with powers of 10 used with seventh graders is presented, with note of another lesson on decimals for grade 6. (MNS)

This manual is used with MATHBOXES, a computer program written for Apple II microcomputers to help children relate formal mathematical symbols for representing simple word problems to the informal strategies using physical objects that they naturally use to solve them. There is a substantial body of research that documents that young children are…

Computer operations involving complex numbers, essential in such applications as Fourier transforms or image processing, are normally performed in a "divide-and-conquer" approach dealing separately with real and imaginary parts. A number of proposals have treated complex numbers as a single unit but all have foundered on the problem of the…

Beginning with a simple computer program to teach a fundamental concept and building in small increments is suggested. For the topic of repeated operations, three activities, an extension, and some problems are given. (MNS)

Young children are interested in and capable of building a mathematics foundation at a very early age. Computer software allows children easy access to math. This software consists of seven activities for ages two to five years. These seven activities emphasize numbers, counting, addition, subtraction, patterns, problem solving, size, and…