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COPYRIGHT 2004 Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)
Use of technology in middle grade mathematics is controversial.
Major policy documents have teachers torn between enthusiasm for technology-facilitated mathematical investigation and cautions about undermining students' computational skills. This article examines research concerning use of computers and calculators in mathematics at the middle grade level. The research reviewed relates to teachers' technology experience, teacher and student attitudes, technology implementation trends, and effects of technology on students' skills and conceptual understanding. When technology is used well in middle grade mathematics, it can have positive effects on students' attitudes toward learning, confidence in their abilities to do mathematics, engagement with the subject matter, and mathematical achievement and conceptual understanding. The extent to which this potential is realized depends on the teacher's skill in integrating technology into the mathematics curriculum according to sound pedagogical principles. Careful attention to teacher preparation and development, as well as curriculum revision, are needed to support effective use of technology in middle grade mathematics.
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The past two decades have seen dramatic growth in the use of technology in mathematics classrooms, diverse and appealing explorations of potential roles for that technology, and sometimes intense debates about the pros and cons of technology in teaching and learning mathematics. The NCTM Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 1989), with its rather bold statement, "Appropriate calculators should be available to all students at all times" (p. 8), exemplified the high enthusiasm of the late 1980's for the potential of technology to support and enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics.
In contrast, some other prominent policy-setting documents have reflected a more cautious stance. For example, roughly a decade after the publication of the Standards (NCTM, 1989), the Mathematics Framework for California Public Schools (California Department of Education, 2000) was among the more conservative voices in its assertion that, "Along with the potential of such a powerful tool for doing good, the possibility also exists for doing immense, perhaps incalculable harm" (p. 222). The concerns cited to support this cautionary assertion include anecdotal accounts of poor uses of technology, as well as findings from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which suggested that students from top-scoring nations used calculators less than students from countries whose TIMSS scores fell below the international average (Tarr, Uekawa, Mittag, & Lennex, 2000).
Almost concurrently with the release of the technologically-cautious California Mathematics Framework, the NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 2000) acknowledged the need for careful consideration of how technology is used, but maintained a positive enthusiasm consistent with the earlier NCTM Standards (NCTM, 1989). Indeed, the Principles and Standards document proclaimed that,
Electronic technologies--calculators and computers--are essential tools for teaching, learning, and doing mathematics. They furnish visual images of mathematical ideas, they facilitate organizing and analyzing data, and they compute efficiently and accurately ... When technological tools are available, students can focus on decision making, reflection, reasoning, and problem solving. (p. 24)
When, as in California, the State-established guidelines for school instruction take a relatively conservative view of the use of technology, teachers can become torn between the cautionary message of their own state guidelines and the more technology-supportive message of the national professional organization with which they identify. In our work with the California Mathematics Education Technology Site (CMETS) (1), we have found middle grade teachers particularly hard hit by these seemingly contradictory messages. They see compelling uses of technology at the high school level, and they understand high school teachers' expectation that students should arrive at the high school level with some preparation and facility with calculators and computers to be ready to engage in explorations that make good use of these tools.
At the same time, middle grade teachers take seriously the cautionary messages about use of computers and calculators at the pre-high school level before all students are facile with computational skills. Further, despite the cautions about using technology "too soon," some teachers believe that middle grade mathematics is especially able to benefit from inclusion of technology. As expressed by one technology-experienced teacher leader,
The middle school curriculum has the flexibility of being more open-ended. We are not as stuck on following the book. We have fewer restrictions than high school teachers. Many students haven't succeeded with traditional means, and an alternative method is sometimes more effective. I've found that technology can help focus their attention and build understanding, and that they feel like they are learning something new, even if the work is just fractions.
It is in this context of mixed messages and teachers' concerns that we set out to examine the literature concerning technology use in mathematics specifically at the middle grade level.
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
The studies presented in this review were carefully selected from a long list of articles and research on technology in the middle grades. The process used to determine inclusion of various studies was based on an analysis of each study's date of publication, record of peer review, and relevance to mathematics education and technology at the middle grades level. The majority of articles selected for this review were published later than 1990. The few studies included that predate 1990 were thought to be especially substantial as sources of useful...
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