Teaching and Learning Mathematics With Spreadsheets

In order for preservice teachers to learn to use the computer as a tool for exploring mathematical concepts, it is necessary for them to experience such uses themselves. In a course for junior and senior level mathematics teaching majors, three weeks is spent using an inexpensive shareware spreadsheet program to explore mathematical ideas including exponential growth, series and sequences, limits, derivatives, and integrals. In each case, the spreadsheet's ability to repeat calculations and define operations recursively is used to provide a deeper understanding of the mathematical relationships involved. Based on this work, uses of the spreadsheet in mathematics classrooms in the secondary school can then be discussed.

Kay I. Meeks Roebuck, Ball State University, Muncie, IN 47306-0490