Didactical complexity of computational environments for the learning of mathematics

Rosamund Sutherland (1) , Nicolas Balacheff (2)

1 Graduate School of Education
2 Leibniz - IMAG - Laboratoire Leibniz

How a microworld is used by students is crucially influenced by the teacher, who has the responsibility of organising the classroom setting in which learning takes place. For this reason this paper focuses on the teacher as a manager of the learning situation, in relation to the students' construction of meaning. A model of teaching which takes into account interactions between teacher, students and computer is outlined. Although the focus of this paper will be on the teacher, the teacher will be considered as part of the whole teaching/learning situation. Central to the paper is the idea that when students work with a mathematical microworld they are engaging with intermediate mathematical objects which belong neither to the concrete world nor to the formal mathematical world. These intermediate objects can provide a way into the formal world of mathematics. The teacher has to become aware of the possible mathematical objects with which the student can engage, in order to decide how to direct the student's attention. (http://www.springerlink.com/content/k62277840x51v822/)

Keywords: didactic of mathematics

Domains: Technology for Human Learning

Rosamund Sutherland, Nicolas Balacheff. Didactical complexity of computational environments for the learning of mathematics. International Journal of Computers for Mathematical Learning, 1999, 4, pp.1-26. ⟨hal-00190717⟩