DEMONSTRATIONSESSION

CALCULATORSASATOOLTODEVELOPNUMBERSENSEIN
ELEMENTARYANDMIDDLESCHOOLTEACHERS
Stuart Moskowitz
Humboldt State University
Arcata, California 95521 USA
The majority of the students in my math for prospective elementary teacher
courses are dependent on their calculators for basic calculations. They are unaware
of how to use calculators as a tool for developing number sense.
Since most
elementary teachers did not see their own teachers use calculators appropriately,
and because most teachers teach the way they are taught, it is essential to
address this issue in both their mathematics content and methods courses.
This demonstration is designed around several handson calculatorbased lessons that
focusondevelopingnumbersense(wholenumberandfractions)alongwithstrengthening
estimationandmentalmathskills. Bothduringandbetweentheselessons,participants
willdiscussandexaminestrengthsandweaknesses,gradelevelappropriateness,standards
addressed,possibleextensions,andothertopicspromptedbythelessons. Byproviding
participantswiththeopportunitytoexperiencethelessonsfirsthand,thesenumbersense
activitieswillserveasaprompttoexploreappropriateusesforcalculatorsinthetraining
ofelementaryandmiddleschoolteachers.
WelllearntwoGuessmyNumberestimation/mentalmathgamesduringthisworkshop
thatencouragestudents tothinkaboutnumberrelationships,patterns,andoperations,
insteadofcomputationalskills.Theywouldnotbepracticalwithoutacalculatortodothe
frequentcomputations.Activitiesthatfocusondevelopingtheconceptofplacevaluewill
bedemonstrated.Wellalsoexploreseveralactivitiesthatemphasizefractions,operations
withfractions,andfractiondecimalrelationships.
Sincedifferentmodelsofcalculatorshavedifferentoperatingsystems,bringingyourown
calculatortotheworkshopwillenableadiscussionaboutdifferencesindifferentmodels.
Illplantoprovidecalculatorsforuseduringtheworkshop,too.
Ihavebeenteachingcalculatorprofessionaldevelopmentworkshopsforthelast12years.
My workshops range from 1 hour to 1 week in length with audiences ranging from
elementaryteachersandstudentteacherstohighschoolandcollegemathematicsfaculty.
Since then, I have led over 250 of these workshops throughout the United States and

aroundtheworld.IhavetaughtworkshopsandspokenatconferencesinAfrica(mainlyin
Zimbabwe),aswellasDenmark(ICME),Greece(ICTM),andNewZealand(DELTA).
This international experience has made me sensitive to differences in teaching styles,
studenthabits,computationalalgorithms,andwrittennotation. Iwillensurethatthese
differenceswillbetopicsofdiscussionduringourSessionandIproposethatthesemayalso
becometopicsforfutureresearchprojects.
Thelanguageofcalculatorsisuniversal. Thismakesthemanidealclassroomtoolina
crossculturalsettingandamostappropriatetopicforthis15thICMIStudy.

TheInternationalCommissiononMathematicalInstruction(ICMI)
TheFifteenthICMIStudy:
TheProfessionalEducationandDevelopmentofTeachersofMathematics

PROPOSALFORADEMONSTRATION:
CALCULATORSASATOOLTODEVELOPNUMBERSENSEIN
ELEMENTARYANDMIDDLESCHOOLTEACHERS
Asanewcomer,Irecognizethisexcitingopportunity:Irespectfullysubmitthis
proposaltoleadademonstrationattheFifteenthICMIStudyConference,tobe
heldinBrazilinMay2005.
Themajorityofthestudentsinmymathforprospectiveelementaryteacher
coursesaredependentontheircalculatorsforbasiccalculations.Theyare
unawareofhowtousecalculatorsasatoolfordevelopingnumbersense.
Sincemostelementaryteachersdidnotseetheirownteachersusecalculators
appropriately,andbecausemostteachersteachthewaytheyaretaught,itis
essentialtoaddressthisissueinbothkmathematicscontentandmethods
courses.
Mydemonstrationwillconsistofmeengagingtheparticipantsactivelyin
severalcalculatorbasedlessonsthatfocusondevelopingnumbersense(whole
numberandfractions)alongwithstrengtheningestimationandmentalmath
skills.Bothduringandbetweentheselessons,theparticipantswilldiscussand
examinestrengthsandweaknesses,gradelevelappropriateness,standards
addressed,possibleextensions,andothertopicspromptedbythelessons.By
providingtheparticipantswiththeopportunitytoexperiencethelessons
firsthand,thesenumbersenseactivitieswillserveasaprompttoexplore

appropriateusesforcalculatorsinthetrainingofelementaryandmiddleschool
teachers.
IbelieveIhavetheidealbackgroundforfacilitatingthesesessions.Iconsider
myselfapractitionerwithextensiveexperiencetrainingbothteachersand
studentteachersatallgradelevels(k16).IhavebeenteachingMathematics
forElementaryTeachercoursesandcalculatortopicscoursesatHumboldtState
University(aCaliforniaStateUniversitycampus)for9years.Priortothat,I
taughtsimilarcoursesatButteCommunityCollegeandLassenCommunity
College(bothinNorthernCalifornia)Ialsoworkregularlyasanindependent
technologyconsultant,teachingcalculatorworkshopsforteachersandpre
serviceteachers.IamaregularworkshopleaderfortheOhioStateUniversity
CollegeShortCourseProgramandfortheTeachersTeachingwithTechnology
ProfessionalDevelopmentProgram.BesidesteachingIalsowriteandedit
calculatorbasedcurriculummaterialsforstudentsandforteachers.CurrentlyI
amworkingasaconsultant/editorwiththeLUCIMATHProfessional
DevelopmentProgramatUCLA.
Ihavebeenapartofthemovementtomakegraphingcalculatorsaregularpart
ofthemiddleandhighschoolcurriculumeversincethetechnologybecame
widelyavailable(early1990s).Sincethen,Ihaveledover250ofthese
workshopsthroughouttheUnitedStatesandaroundtheworld.
IhavetaughtworkshopsandspokenatconferencesinAfrica(mainlyin
Zimbabwe),aswellasDenmark(ICME),Greece(ICTM),andNewZealand
(DELTA).Thisinternationalexperiencehasmademesensitivetodifferences
inteachingstyles,studenthabits,computationalalgorithms,andwritten
notation.Thisrelativelyuniqueperspectivemakesmewellsuitedtoleada
sessionatameetingsuchastheupcomingICMIstudy.
GoalsoftheSession
Actively engage participants in handson number sense activities
enhancedwithhandheldtechnology(calculators)
Facilitate a discussion on appropriate uses of calculators in the
ElementaryandMiddleschoolmathematicscurriculum.
Motivate other teacher educators to incorporate a broader use of
calculatorsintheirownclasses.
Stimulatecollaborationsforfutureresearchprojects.
WhatWillBeDemonstrated

 Twodifferentmodelsofnongraphingcalculatorswillbecomparedto
studydifferencesintheiroperatingsystems.Sincenotallcalculatorsuse
standardorderofoperations,itispossibleforthesamesetofkeystrokes
toyielddifferentresultsondifferentmodels.Forthisreason,itiscritical
forateachertounderstandtheoperatingsysteminthecalculatorsinher
classroom. Whilealmostanymodelsandbrandscanbeused,wewill
useTI108sandTI15s.
TwodifferentEstimation/GuessingGameswillbeplayed. Bothof
these activities require participants to guess factors and/or divisors in
ordertoreachadesiredproductor quotient.Theselessons encourage
students tothink about number relationships, patterns, and operations,
insteadofcomputationalskills. Theywouldnotbepractical,oreven
possible,withoutacalculatortodothefrequentcomputations.
Wewilldooneactivitythatemphasizesdevelopingconceptsofplace
value.Thisshouldbeespeciallyinterestingaswecomparedifferencesin
numerationsystemsfromcountrytocountry.
We will explore several activities thatemphasize fractions, operations
withfractions,andfractiondecimalrelationships.
HowItRelatesToTheFociOfTheStudy
This Demonstration session relates directly to the main focus of the
study,theinitialandcontinuingeducationofteachersofmathematics.
Whilethecalculatoractivitiesmentionedabovecanandshouldbedone
withstudents,myexperiencehasshownmethatmostteachershavenot
developed fully their own estimation and number sense skills. This
meansthatthelessonsservetwopurposes: 1)mathematicscontentfor
theteachers,and2)modelingmethodsforpresentingtheseconceptsto
students.
The demonstration also relates to the focus on how teachers from
differentcountrieslearnthemathematicstheyneedforteaching. Each
activitywillpromptcriticaldiscussionsthatwillhighlightthedifferent
methodsusedindifferentcountries.
CapacityforParticipationandSpecialRequirements(technology,space,
other)forthesession.
Onlyanoverheadprojectorandacomputerprojectorneedtobeprovided.I
willarrangetobringcalculatorsforeachparticipantandcalculatorsforthe
overheadprojectortothestudy.Iwillbring3models:theTI108,theTI15,
andtheTI84.UnlessIcanmakearrangementswithTexasInstrumentstoship
thecalculators,thenIwillbecarryingthemmyself.Forthisreason,Iwould

limitthenumberofparticipantstoamaximumof30andIwouldcontactthe
Studyorganizerspriortotravellinginordertogetabetterideaofhowmany
mightbeattendingmysession.
Conclusion
The language of calculators is universal. This makes them an ideal classroom
tool in a cross-cultural setting. Since bridging cross-cultural gaps is a
primary focus/goal of the ICMI study, my demonstration has the potential
to contribute to the quality of the study overall. I look forward to having
the opportunity to be a part of this very important project.
StuartMoskowitz
HumboldtStateUniversity
Mathematicsdepartment
Arcata,CA95521
USA

Voice
Fax
Email

(707)4455795
(707)8263140
sm14@humboldt.edu