The problem with which this investigation was concerned was that of the determining relationships between attitude and between achievement of students in those classes in college basic mathematics which utilized electronic calculators during class sessions and students in those classes which did not utilize electronic calculators.

The study examined classroom instructional practices and teacher's professed conceptions about teaching and learning college calculus in relationship to the implementation of scientific-programmable-graphics (SPG) calculators. The study occurred at a university not affiliated with any reform project. The participants were not the catalysts seeking to implement calculus reform, but expressed a willingness to teach the first quarter calculus course with the SPG calculator. The research design was based on qualitative methods using comparative case studies of five teachers. Primary data were collected through pre-school interviews and weekly classroom observations with subsequent interviews. Teachers' profiles were established describing general conceptions of teaching calculus, instructional practices, congruence between conceptions and practice, conceptions about teaching using SPG calculators, instructional practice with SPG calculators, and the relationship of conceptions and practice with SPG calculators. Initially, all the teachers without prior experience using SPG calculators indicated concern and skepticism about the usefulness of the technology in teaching calculus and were uncertain how to utilize the calculator in teaching the calculus concepts. During the study the teachers became less skeptical about the calculator's usefulness and found it effective for illustrating graphs. Some of the teachers' exams included more conceptual and graphically-oriented questions, but were not significantly different from traditional exams. Findings indicated the college teachers' conceptions of teaching calculus were generally consistent with their instructional practice when not constrained by time. The teachers did not perceive a dramatic change in their instructional practices. Rather, the new graphing approach curriculum and technology were assimilated into the teachers' normal teaching practices. No major shifts in the role of the teachers were detected. Two teachers demonstrated slight differences in their roles when the SPG calculators were used in class. One was a consultant to the students as they used the SPG calculators; the other became a fellow learner as the students presented different features on the calculator. Use of the calculator was influenced by several factors: inexperience with the calculator, time constraints, setting up the classroom display calculator, preferred teaching styles and emphasis, and a willingness to risk experimenting with established teaching practices and habits. / Graduation date: 1996

Graphics calculators have become an integral part of many introductory college mathematics courses. There has been little research to show the effects of introducing technology, along with an emphasis on the interrelationships of the numeric, symbolic, graphical, and verbal forms of functions, for courses that are traditionally considered pre-college mathematics. The major purpose of this study was to determine if changes in mathematics anxiety and attitudes occurred in Intermediate Algebra classes and to determine whether these changes were dependent on age, gender of student, and experience of instructor. The relationship between beginning levels of math anxiety and successful completion of the class were also examined.All sections of Intermediate Algebra taught at Grand Valley State University during the Winter semester of 1995 participated in the study. The first week of class, 479 students completed the initial survey. The final week of class, 264 of those students completed the survey again. In addition to gender and age of student, the survey instrumentcontained questions from seven of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales. Each scale contained 12 questions, answered on a five point Likert type scale. High scores on the questionnaire indicated a positive attitude. Students in four sections were asked open ended questions every other week. At the end of the semester, instructors were given a questionnaire to determine their perceptions of how student's attitudes and anxieties changed.MANOVA for repeated measures using SPSS was used to perform the analyses with respect to age, gender, and teacher experience, over time. Faculty responses indicated they thought attitudes and levels of math anxiety improved over the semester. Although most groups did show some improvement, no significant change occurred. The only statistically significant differences detected were in math anxiety by gender and a combination of math anxiety and attitude by age. Females had higher levels of math anxiety (N = 166, initial M = 29.96, final M = 30.80) than males (N =.98, initial M = 33.87, final M = 34.79)and while older students appeared more math anxious, they also reflected a more positive attitude about mathematics. / Department of Educational Leadership

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of North Texas, May, 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1991. / Bibliography : leaves 132-141.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Ohio University, August, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Elizabeth Jakubowski, Florida State University, College of Education, Dept. of Middle and Secondary Education. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Oct. 06, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio University, June, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-104).

Thesis (M.Ed.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1997. / Bibliography: leaves 110-113.