Illustrating the Beats Phenomenon with Excel: the construction of meaning through experimentation

dc.creator	John Baker
dc.date	2003-07-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T22:06:18Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T22:06:18Z
dc.identifier	1448-6156
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/f9cd21ea700148ecbf2fe299ed77a37a
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/10417
dc.identifier.uri	https://doaj.org/article/f9cd21ea700148ecbf2fe299ed77a37a
dc.description	The work of students on a specific mathematical topic is described in terms of their initial lack of confidence to take the concept on board through to their final understanding of the topic; a change that was greatly supported by their use of spreadsheets. The outcome for the students parallels the findings of the study by Sutherland and Rojano which showed that, for Year 10-11 students ‘pupils initially had difficulty accepting the idea of working with a general unknown’ but that the ‘spreadsheet environment supported pupils to move from thinking with the specific to the general’. In the mathematics education literature, the use of spreadsheets as a tool has an established level of acceptance both through research studies and policy documents, but there remains the need for further studies of its practical application both as a program that can enhance learning and as a tool with which students can express their understanding. This article is but one step in this direction, and adopts the pedagogical approach of Cobb where the students are given opportunities through social interaction in the classroom to develop their own understanding and representations of a concept.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	Faculty of Information Technology, Bond University
dc.relation	http://epublications.bond.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=ejsie
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1448-6156
dc.source	Spreadsheets in Education, Vol 1, Iss 1, Pp 52-57 (2003)
dc.subject	Excel
dc.subject	beats phenomenon
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Theory and practice of education
dc.subject	LB5-3640
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.title	Illustrating the Beats Phenomenon with Excel: the construction of meaning through experimentation
dc.type	Article