b. Selecting ICT Resources

There seemed to be three main options for this topic:

  • No ICT.
  • Specific teaching/testing program.
  • Spreadsheet or other computer modelling package.
The option of not using ICT was attractive - after all, they had been covering this topic for many years without it. But the teacher felt that their methods in the past had rushed pupils from activities with number machines and tables, which they understood, to merely mechanical manipulation of symbols which they did not understand and found difficult to remember. The computer spreadsheet seems like a useful bridge between the familiar number operations and the very abstract thinking involved in algebra.

Questions for Consideration

  • Which of the following features of ICT are likely to contribute to learning in this topic:
    • Speed and automatic functions?
    • Capacity and range?
    • Provisional nature of information stored, processed and presented?
    • The interactive way in which information is stored, processed and presented?
  • Could you achieve the same effect using other aids to learning?

He looked at one or two specific teaching programs which covered algebra, but these seemed to be aimed at the revision market. They would be useful for individuals or pairs of pupils to practise manipulations with immediate feedback, but they did not seem helpful in providing the understanding that was needed.

Point for Consideration

  • Explore a specific teaching program for algebra and summarise how it deals with these learning objectives.

At the same time, the department was being asked to contribute more to the development of pupils' IT capability, and the IT co-ordinator had suggested that they could do some modelling work with spreadsheets. She told the teacher that pupils already did some introductory work with spreadsheets in Year 7, and they would be able to enter numbers and text, and produce graphs from tables of data. She wanted them to learn to use formulas, and thought that the Maths department would be the best place for this work.

Questions for Consideration

  • Which part of the programme of study for IT is this work related to?
  • Consider the scheme of work IT for your own school or department, and compare the teaching of this part of the programme of study for IT in your school with the way it is taught in this case study.

From his personal work with spreadsheets, the teacher had thought that using formulas was quite advanced and that pupils would need to be confident with algebra first. However, he looked at one or two books on the use of spreadsheets in maths teaching, and it seemed that pupils could easily set up simple formulas just by thinking about the arithmetic operations and using the mouse to click on what they wanted to calculate with. The formula would come up without the pupils typing in cell references.

The teacher thought that if pupils got used to seeing formulas and then copying formulas on the computer, then this would make it easier to deal with abstract mathematical formulas when doing written work in the classroom. When using the computer, they could try out their formulas and check whether they did what was intended, rather than having to wait for me to check whether they had got them right.

The big disadvantage is the different format for spreadsheet formulas, compared with mathematical ones. He hoped that the pupils would find it quite easy to "convert" from spreadsheet to algebra notation, once they were confident with the idea of using symbols for variables instead of just using numbers. He would need to discuss with the class why maths formulas are different, give them rules for constructing formulas, and ask them to write their spreadsheet formulas in algebra notation as well.

Questions for Consideration

  • Make sure that you can enter spreadsheet formulas by clicking on cells and by typing cell references.
  • Do you think that you need to be familiar with conventional algebra to do this?
  • How do you think pupils could check whether they have the right formula?
  • Summarise the differences between algebraic and spreadsheet formula syntax.

The teacher's own use of spreadsheets had been with Microsoft Works on his computer at home, but his school uses Acorn computers with KS3 pupils and the IT Co-ordinator thought that 'Fireworkz' would be best. It was a similar sort of package to MS Works, and the pupils had used it before for spreadsheets and database work in the Core Skills IT programme during year 7. There was a more sophisticated spreadsheet program available, which was similar to MS Excel, but when he looked at this, it seemed that all the extra features were unnecessary.

Questions for Consideration

  • What spreadsheet programs do you have:
    • At home?
    • At school?

Make sure that you are confident in using the main features of these programs, noting carefully the differences if you are using more than one program or version:

  • Cell reference notation.
  • Formula syntax (including the use of useful functions such as SUM, IF; absolute as well as relative references).
  • Copying/replication.
  • Borders and colours for cells/text.
  • Changing size of cells and text.
  • Locking and hiding of selected cell contents if available.

The teacher decided to go ahead with Fireworkz in the classroom, but to work out what he wanted to do on MS Works at home first, and then try to do the same at school with Fireworkz.

In order to create the above models, he first typed in the Input and Output labels and listed the values 1 to 5 under the Input label. He then moved to cell D3 and entered the formula =IF(C3=3*B3,"Yes","No). He replicated this into cells D4 to D7. He then selected column D and used the Hide option so that the formula could not be seen in the formula bar if a pupil clicked on a cell in column D. He used the border tools to create the table boundary lines, and then applied the Lock option to all the cells except C3 down to C7.

Points for Consideration

Try to achieve the same effect with your software. If there are any aspects that you cannot do, seek help, and if things still seem impossible, work out how to compromise with the design of the model. Complete the following:

  • Resource/Resource Combination.
  • To do to Make it Work.
  • Expected Learning Benefits for Pupils.
  • Expected Difficulties in Use.

c. Developing Your Own Knowledge of the Resources