Re: Pedagogical uses of a CAS with high school or undergraduate students


hjbortol@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I'm looking for references (articles/books)
> elaborating about the pedagogical uses
> of a CAS with high school or undergraduate
> students. Advantages? Dangers?
>
> Google shows a lot of activities for undegraduate
> students (calculus and precalculus mainly),
> none for high school ones. However, I was unable
> to find any article discussing the pedagogical
> aspects of such activities ...
>
> Thanks in advance, Humberto.

Here is my thought. There is little a person is going to learn in terms
of fundamental high school mathematics from a computer algebra system.
I don't see much uses for it in a math class besides checking an
answers, which could be done on a graphing calculator.

However, classical Newtonian physics is based on calculus. Most high
schools do not teach physics from a calculus perspectives. Some
universities even teach an introductory physics course without an ounce
of calculus. It is my opinion that the idea of differentiation and
integration could be taught in a lecture or two without worrying the
algebra necessary to perform the integration and differentiation.

On homework students could use a computer algebra systems or graphing
calculator and on an exams the necessary integrals to complete the
problem could be given as hints. The teacher could even ensure that
some problems could only be solved numerically so that students who
have already taken calculus would not be able to completely avoid
learning the CAS.

Still this seems like a relatively limited use of CAS as students would
not be away of the mechanics of a CAS or how to write there own
functions if needed.

.

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