The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a mathematics enrichment activity used to improve the mathematics performance of students relative to participation in the State Agricultural Mechanics Career Development Event (CDE) and in mandated assessments. The treatment group (13 schools, 43 students) participated in a mathematics enrichment activity situated in an agricultural mechanics context. The control group (16 schools, 56 students) did not participate in the enrichment activity. Both groups, as part of the CDE, were tested with a 100-question word problem examination, completed a individual skill and team activity, and completed a demographic instrument regarding participation in agricultural mechanics CDEs, scholastic performance, use of graphing calculators, enrollment in STEM, agricultural science, and fine arts courses, and other information. After the survey was conducted, schools were asked to provide TAKS exit scores on participating students. These scores were compared between schools and against statewide TAKS scores. Results of the study showed a significant improvement in scores on the individual written examination and teams scores for the agricultural mechanics CDE and on the TAKS exit level mathematics assessment. Mean written examination scores for the treatment group were 69.53; non-cooperators were 57.16. Mean total team scores for cooperating teams were 420.39; non-cooperators had a mean score of 368.13. Mean TAKS exit level mathematics scores for cooperators were 2336.78; non-cooperators had a mean TAKS exit level score of 2331.77. Participation in the enrichment activity improved both CDE and mathematics achievement scores.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the graphing calculator on the achievement, attitude toward mathematics, and confidence in learning mathematics of Algebra II students.

This mixed-method study investigated the impact of graphing calculator use on high school calculus students' reasoning skills through calculus problems when applying to concepts of the definite integral and its applications. The study provides an investigation of the effects on reasoning when graphing calculators are used, since it is proposed that, through reasoning, conceptual understanding can be achieved. Three research questions were used to guide the study: (1) Does the use of the graphing calculator improve high school calculus students' reasoning ability in calculus problems applying the definite integral? (2) In what specific areas of reasoning does use of the graphing calculator seem to be most and least effective? and (3) To what extent can students who have used the graphing calculator demonstrate ability to solve problems using pencil and paper methods? The study included a quantitative, quasi-experimental component and a qualitative component. Results of the quantitative and qualitative analysis indicate that (1) graphing calculators had a positive impact upon students' reasoning skills (2) graphing calculators were most effective in the areas of initiating a strategy and monitoring progress (3) students' reasoning skills were most improved when graphing calculators were used together with the analytic approach during both instruction and testing and (4) students who used the graphing calculator performed equally as well in all elements of reasoning as those who used pencil and paper to solve problems.

The concept of function is one of the essential topics in the teaching and learning of secondary mathematics because of the central and unifying role it plays within secondary and college level mathematics. Organizations, such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, suggest students should be able to make connections across multiple representations of mathematical functions by the time they complete high school. Despite the prominent role functions play in secondary mathematics curriculum, students continue to struggle with the complex notion of functions and especially have difficulty using the different representations that are inherent to functions (algebraic, graphical and tabular). Technology is often considered an effective tool in raising student achievement, especially in learning functions where the different representations of a graphing calculator are analogous to the different representations of a function. Opportunity to learn is another important consideration when examining achievement and is generally considered one of, if not the most important, factor in student achievement. Opportunity to learn, or the measure of to what extent students have had an opportunity to learn or review a concept, is often measured with self-reports of content coverage. This study examined the relationship between opportunity to learn, students'; use of graphing calculators, and achievement within a curriculum that supports integrated use of technology and focuses on conceptual understanding of mathematical concepts. The research questions focused on what opportunities students had to learn functions from the enacted curriculum, what calculator strategies students used when solving function problems, how both opportunity to learn and calculator strategies influenced student achievement, and what relationships exist between opportunity to learn, use of calculator strategies, and student achievement. This study is an in-depth secondary analysis of a portion of data collected as part of the evaluation study of Precalculus and Discrete Mathematics (Third Edition, Field-Trial Version) developed by the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project. Participants in this study (n = 271) came from six schools, seven teachers, and 14 classes. Instruments in this study include two pretests (one with technology and one without) and three posttests (two with technology and one without) and a calculator usage survey for one posttest. In addition to five student assessments, teachers completed opportunity-to-learn surveys for the posttests and chapter evaluations forms on which they indicated the lessons taught and the homework problems assigned from the textbook. Some students (n = 151) had access to graphing calculators equipped with computer algebra systems (CAS) while others (n = 120) had access to graphing calculators. Students had multiple opportunities to learn functions as measured by lessons taught, homework assigned, and posttest items teachers reported as having taught or reviewed the content necessary for students to correctly answer the items. Overall, students showed a positive increase in achievement between the pretests and posttests. In general, achievement was positively correlated to OTL Lessons, negatively correlated to OTL Homework, and had no correlation to OTL Posttests when controlling for prior knowledge. Results indicate students appear to be, for the most part, making wise choices about when and how to use graphing calculators to solve function items. Students prefer the graphical representation and are rarely using CAS features or tables, even when they are the best choices for solving a problem. Results from hierarchical linear models (HLM) show use of strategies (beta = 0.96), access to CAS (beta = 5.12), and OTL lessons (beta = 0.75) all had significant and positive impacts on student achievement for one of the posttests, when controlling for prior knowledge. Results from path analyses also indicated use of strategies had a direct and positive effect (beta =0 .14) on student achievement but showed access to CAS had a negative indirect effect (beta = -0.64) on student achievement for the same posttest mitigated through OTL Lessons (beta = 0.30). The results of this study have implications for both researchers and mathematics educators who seek to understand ways in which teachers can increase students'; understanding of functions and student achievement. The relationship between the use of technology and student achievement in relation to opportunity to learn is complex, but use of calculator strategies appears to have a positive effect on students' opportunity to learn functions and student achievement when used in a curriculum that focuses on conceptual understanding and integrates technology.

Mathematics education could and should benefit from technology in order to improve teaching and learning, particularly in topics where visualizations and connections to other concepts are needed. Handheld technologies such as graphing calculators can provide students with visualization, confirmation and exploration of problems and concepts they are learning. Handheld graphing technologies have been taken place widely in elementary and secondary level mathematics courses and considered to be beneficial in various means in mathematics education. Mathematics teachers have a crucial role in the use of GCs in mathematics classrooms. Therefore, pre-service teachers&rsquo / use of GCs and their views on the use of the tool in mathematics learning are considered to be valuable. The purpose of this study was to investigate the difficulties pre-service elementary mathematics teachers face, and the benefits and constraints they emphasize while learning elementary school algebra through using the Casio Classpad after receiving an instruction with graphing calculators. The graphing calculator used in the present study is the Casio Classpad 330, which is an evolved handheld device combining features of graphing calculators, dynamic geometry environment, computer algebra systems and more. The following two research problems guided the study: What are the difficulties do pre-service elementary mathematics teachers face while using Classpad in learning elementary school algebra after receiving an instruction with graphing calculators? What benefits and constraints do pre-service elementary mathematics teachers emphasize while learning elementary school algebra through using Classpad after receiving an instruction with graphing calculators? With the aim of investigating the views of a group of pre-service elementary mathematics teachers, qualitative research strategies were used. The data was collected and analyzed by means of a case study design. Classroom observations, a questionnaire, and focus group interviews were the main data sources of the existing study. The study was carried out with 21 pre-service elementary mathematics teachers. In the classroom studies elementary level algebra was taught to the participants with the use of Classpad as a main tool by giving one tool to each of the participants. Classroom observations ended in five weeks &ndash / 20 courses &ndash / including one week of a training period. After the classroom observations, participants filled out a questionnaire including five open-ended questions about the classroom studies. Finally, data collection procedure was ended with three focus group interviews. The data was analyzed with qualitative means by transcribing and analyzing the observation records, answers of the questionnaire, and records of the three interviews. Results revealed that pre-service teachers&rsquo / view Classpad in three categories / as a personal tool, as an educational tool, and the relationship between CP and motivation. They viewed CP as a personal tool that they were eager to use the tool in every level of mathematics from elementary to mastering degrees. As an educational tool, they preferred to use the tool as a teacher by giving some cautions that teachers and students should be careful with. Lastly, they considered that the tool has a positive effect on motivation when used appropriately. Pre-service elementary mathematics teachers faced some difficulties in the beginning courses of the classroom studies which was their learning period of how to use CP and they overcome most of the difficulties at the end of the classroom studies. As the new elementary school level mathematics curriculum encourages the use of various technologies in teaching and learning of mathematics, the results of this study will have useful implications for mathematics teachers and curriculum developers.

This dissertation consists of four articles and a summary. The main focus of the studies is students' explorations in upper secondary school mathematics. In the first study the central research question was to find out if the students could learn something difficult by using the graphing calculator. The students were working with questions connected to factorisation of quadratic polynomials, and the factor theorem. The results indicate that the students got a better understanding for the factor theorem, and for the connection between graphical and algebraical representations. The second study focused on a the last part of an investigation, the verification of an idea or a conjecture. Students were given three conjectures and asked to decide if they were true or false, and also to explain why the conjectures were true or false. In this study I found that the students wanted to use rather abstract mathematics in order to verify the conjectures. Since the results from the second study disagreed with other research in similar situations, I wanted to see what Swedish teachers had to say of the students' ways to verify the conjectures. The third study is an interview study where some teachers were asked what expectations they had on students who were supposed to verify the three conjectures from the second study. The teachers were also confronted with examples from my second study, and asked to comment on how the students performed. The results indicate that teachers tend to underestimate students' mathematical reasoning. A central focus to all my three studies is explorations in mathematics. My fourth study, a revised version of a pilot study performed 1998, concerns exactly that: how students in upper secondary school explore a mathematical concept. The results indicate that the students are able to perform explorations in mathematics, and that the graphing calculator has a potential as a pedagogical aid, it can be a support for the students' mathematical reasoning.

The introduction of graphing calculators into senior secondary schools and mandating of their use in high stakes assessment makes student expertise in finding a complete graph of a function essential. This thesis investigated the cognitive, metacognitive, mathematical, and technological processes senior secondary students used in seeking a complete graph of a difficult cubic function. A pretest of function knowledge was administered to two mixed ability classes in their final two years of secondary school. Five pairs of experienced users of TI-83 or 82 graphing calculators from these classes were audio and videotaped solving a problem task. Protocols were constructed and subjected to intensive qualitative macroanalysis and microanalysis using tools developed by the researcher from Schoenfeld’s work. / The findings were: (1)all students demonstrated understanding of the local and global nature of functions and the synthesis of these in determining a complete graph; (2) a range of mathematical and graphing calculator knowledge was applied in seeking a global view of the function with their combined application being more efficient and effective; (3) an understanding of automatic range scaling features facilitated efficient finding of a global view; (4) all pairs demonstrated having a clear mental image of the function sought and the possible positions of the calculator output relative to this; (5) students were able to resolve situations involving unexpected views of the graph to determine a global view; (6) students displayed understanding of local linearity of a function; (7) when working in the graphical representation, students used the algebraic but not the numerical representation to facilitate and support their solution; (8) scale marks were used to produce more elegant solutions and facilitate identification of key function features to produce a sketch but some students misunderstood the effect of altering these; (9) pairs differed in the proportion of cognitive and metacognitive behaviours demonstrated with question asking during evaluation supporting decision making; (10) correct selection of xxi an extensive range of graphing calculator features and use of dedicated features facilitated efficient and accurate identification of coordinates of key function features.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Jennifer M. Bay-Williams / Graphing calculators have been used in education since 1986, but there is no consensus as to how, or if, they should be used. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Research Council promote their use, and ample research supports the positive benefits of their use, but not all teachers share this view. Also, rural schools face obstacles that may hinder them from implementing technology. The purpose of this study is to determine how graphing calculators are used in mathematics instruction of high schools in western Kansas, a rural region of the state. In addition to exploring the introduction level of graphing calculators, the frequency of their use, and classes in which they are used, this study also investigated the beliefs of high school mathematics teachers as related to teaching mathematics and the use of graphing calculators. Data were collected through surveys, interviews, and observations of classroom teaching. Results indicate that graphing calculators are allowed or required in almost all of the high schools of this region, and almost all teachers have had some experience using them in their classrooms. Student access to graphing calculators depends more on the level of mathematics taken in high school than on the high school attended; graphing calculator calculators are allowed or required more often in higher-level classes than in lower-level classes. Teachers believe that graphing calculators enhance student learning because of the visual representation that the calculators provide, but their teaching styles have not changed much because of graphing calculators. Teachers use graphing calculators as an extension of their existing teaching style. In addition, nearly all of the teachers who were observed and classified as non-rule-based based on their survey utilized primarily rule-based teaching methods.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:24:52Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2006-02-20Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:13:17Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 scucuglia_r_me_rcla.pdf: 2169829 bytes, checksum: 4fcea48798ae4ad65d55b601401c6e23 (MD5) / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) / A informática vem gerando discussões sobre fundamentos da Matemática e reorganizando dinâmicas em Educação Matemática. Baseado nessa idéia, e em meu engajamento como pesquisador participante do GPIMEM, estruturei uma pesquisa onde discuto como Estudantes-com-Calculadoras-Gráficas investigam o Teorema Fundamental do Cálculo (TFC). Apoiado na perspectiva epistemológica Seres-Humanos-com-Mídias, que evidencia o papel das tecnologias no processo de produção de conhecimento, realizei experimentos de ensino com duplas de estudantes do primeiro ano da graduação em matemática, UNESP, Rio Claro, SP. A partir da análise de vídeos da primeira sessão de Experimentos de Ensino notei que a utilização de programas e comandos da Calculadora Gráfica TI-83 condicionou o pensamento das estudantes na investigação dos conceitos de Soma de Riemann e Integração (conceitos intrinsecamente inerentes ao TFC). Na segunda sessão, explorando exemplos de funções polinomiais com o comando de integração definida da Calculadora Gráfica, os coletivos pensantes formados por Estudantes-com-Calculadoras- Gráficas-Lápis-e-Papel estabeleceram conjecturas sobre o TFC. No processo de demonstração deste Teorema, foram utilizadas noções intuitivas e notações simplificadas, antes que fosse usada a simbologia padronizada pela Matemática Acadêmica. Essa abordagem possibilitou o engajamento gradativo das estudantes em discussões matemáticas dedutivas a partir dos resultados obtidos experimentalmente com as atividades propostas na pesquisa. / Information technology has been generating discussion regarding the foundations of mathematics, and reorganizing dynamics in mathematics education. Based on this idea, and on my engagement as a researcher participating in GPIMEM, I designed a study in which I discuss how students-with-graphing-calculators investigate the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (FTC). Based on the epistemological perspective of humans-with-media, which emphasizes the role of technology in the process of knowledge production, I conducted teaching experiments with pairs of students enrolled in the first year of the mathematics program at the State University of São Paulo (UNESP), Rio Claro campus. Based on analysis of video-tapes of the first teaching experiments session, I noted that the use of programs and commands of the TI-83 graphing calculator conditioned the students thinking in the inquiry into the concepts Riemann Sums and Integration (concepts intrinsically inherent to the FTC). In the second session, exploring examples of polynomial functions with the definite integration command by the graphing calculator, the thinking collectives composed of students-withgraphing- calculators-paper-and-pencil established conjectures regarding the FTC. In the process of demonstrating this theorem, intuitive notions and simplified notations were used before using the standardized symbology of academic mathematics. This approach made it possible for the students to become gradually engaged in deductive mathematical discussions based on the results obtained experimentally through the activities proposed in the study.

Orientador: Marcelo de Carvalho Borba / Banca: Mônica E. Villarreal / Banca: Telma de S. Gracias / Resumo: A informática vem gerando discussões sobre fundamentos da Matemática e reorganizando dinâmicas em Educação Matemática. Baseado nessa idéia, e em meu engajamento como pesquisador participante do GPIMEM, estruturei uma pesquisa onde discuto como Estudantes-com-Calculadoras-Gráficas investigam o Teorema Fundamental do Cálculo (TFC). Apoiado na perspectiva epistemológica Seres-Humanos-com-Mídias, que evidencia o papel das tecnologias no processo de produção de conhecimento, realizei experimentos de ensino com duplas de estudantes do primeiro ano da graduação em matemática, UNESP, Rio Claro, SP. A partir da análise de vídeos da primeira sessão de Experimentos de Ensino notei que a utilização de programas e comandos da Calculadora Gráfica TI-83 condicionou o pensamento das estudantes na investigação dos conceitos de Soma de Riemann e Integração (conceitos intrinsecamente inerentes ao TFC). Na segunda sessão, explorando exemplos de funções polinomiais com o comando de integração definida da Calculadora Gráfica, os coletivos pensantes formados por Estudantes-com-Calculadoras- Gráficas-Lápis-e-Papel estabeleceram conjecturas sobre o TFC. No processo de demonstração deste Teorema, foram utilizadas noções intuitivas e notações simplificadas, antes que fosse usada a simbologia padronizada pela Matemática Acadêmica. Essa abordagem possibilitou o engajamento gradativo das estudantes em “discussões matemáticas dedutivas” a partir dos resultados obtidos “experimentalmente” com as atividades propostas na pesquisa. / Abstract: Information technology has been generating discussion regarding the foundations of mathematics, and reorganizing dynamics in mathematics education. Based on this idea, and on my engagement as a researcher participating in GPIMEM, I designed a study in which I discuss how students-with-graphing-calculators investigate the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus (FTC). Based on the epistemological perspective of humans-with-media, which emphasizes the role of technology in the process of knowledge production, I conducted teaching experiments with pairs of students enrolled in the first year of the mathematics program at the State University of São Paulo (UNESP), Rio Claro campus. Based on analysis of video-tapes of the first teaching experiments session, I noted that the use of programs and commands of the TI-83 graphing calculator conditioned the students’ thinking in the inquiry into the concepts Riemann Sums and Integration (concepts intrinsically inherent to the FTC). In the second session, exploring examples of polynomial functions with the definite integration command by the graphing calculator, the thinking collectives composed of students-withgraphing- calculators-paper-and-pencil established conjectures regarding the FTC. In the process of demonstrating this theorem, intuitive notions and simplified notations were used before using the standardized symbology of academic mathematics. This approach made it possible for the students to become gradually engaged in “deductive mathematical discussions” based on the results obtained “experimentally” through the activities proposed in the study. / Mestre