Exploring Mathematics With Integrated Spreadsheets In Teacher Education

Book excerpt: The goal of the book is to technologically enhance the preparation of mathematics schoolteachers using an electronic spreadsheet integrated with Maple and Wolfram Alpha — digital tools capable of sophisticated symbolic computations. The content of the book is a combination of mathematical ideas and concepts associated with pre-college problem solving curriculum and their extensions into more advanced mathematical topics.The book provides prospective and practicing teachers with a foundation for developing a deep understanding of many concepts fundamental to the teaching of school mathematics. It also provides the teachers with a technical expertise in designing spreadsheet-based computational environments.Consistent with the current worldwide guidelines for technology-enhanced teacher preparation, the book emphasizes the integration of context, mathematics, and technology as a method for teaching mathematics. Throughout the book, a number of mathematics education documents developed around the world (Australia, Canada, England, Japan, Singapore, United States) are reviewed as appropriate.