Reflections: April, 2002

EDITORIAL

MANSW ANNUAL CONFERENCE, 2001

REFLECTIONS ON TECHNOLOGY

• Using technology in the best possible ways, Barry Kissane 2
• Algorithms Algorithms &
• Infinite resources for mathematics enrichment, Jenni Way 17
• Using computers in your classroom next Monday, Holly Gyton 21
• Selecting a graphic calculator for Years 7Selecting a graphic calculator for Years 7&
• Introducing factors, multiples, highest common factors and lowest common multiples with a spreadsheet, David Keanan-Brown 29
• Interactive experiences using technology, Cyril Quinlan 31

REFLECTIONS ON TEACHING APPROACHES

REFLECTIONS ON MATHEMATICAL TASKS AND ACTIVITIES

REFLECTIONS ON HISTORY AND CULTURE IN MATHEMATICS

REFLECTIONS ON LANGUAGE IN MATHEMATICS

REFLECTIONS ON SENIOR MATHEMATICS

MANSW CONFERENCE

Editorial

The 2001 Annual Conference held at Leura in September was another very successful event for the Mathematical Association of New South Wales (MANSW). Anne Hastings, the conference convenor, describes the program as providing 'stimulating teaching ideas from teachers of mathematics, be they early childhood, primary, secondary or post-secondary'. The papers in this issue certainly support the claim of providing stimulating teaching ideas and should enable those who were unable to attend the conference to sample the material that is a regular feature of MANSW's conferences. In addition, this conference proceedings contains papers that focus on the range of learning mathematics from Kindergarten to Year 12, and beyond.The conference theme '2001 &emdash; A mathematical od(d)yssey', with a particular focus on the effective use of technology in the teaching of mathematics in schools, is featured in many of the papers in this issue. Other papers in this collection focus on teaching approaches, mathematical tasks and activities, history and culture in mathematics, language factors that impact on learning mathematics, and mathematics that is appropriate for senior students.Kissane's keynote paper provides an overview of the technology that can be used to support teaching and learning in mathematics. His paper is aptly supported by several others that focus on particular aspects of the use of technology in classrooms. Way outlines the use of the Internet as a source of rich problems for students at many levels of learning, Gyton provides lesson overviews that incorporate computers, Rowland compares two graphic calculators, Keanan-Brown describes a spreadsheet activity for exploring number concepts, and Quinlan outlines an interactive algebra experience. Gagen describes the use of algorithms by computers to find solutions to particular mathematical questions.Effective teaching approaches are described in Sullivan's keynote paper. Southwell highlights the use of diagrams as a feature of working mathematically and Mar provides useful advice regarding the teaching of students with special education needs in regular schools.Mathematical tasks and activities are the focus of several papers. White and Hastings provide many examples of material that can motivate students in mathematics classrooms. Southwell describes worthwhile mathematical tasks, Tickle outlines the use of games to support early number learning, Owens describes the use of paper-folding activities to support the development of spatial concepts, Wilson indicates how her school used particular materials to consolidate computation, and Joshua provides advice about the use of open-ended questions and investigations.The history and culture as well as the language of mathematics feature in other papers in this issue. Forrest and Attard describe the use of history to promote mathematics learning in primary classrooms. Owens provides an overview of features of indigenous mathematics and Taylor describes several historical and cultural features that can be described using mathematics. Murray reflects on important aspects of language use in learning mathematics and provides examples of teaching approaches that can help in this regard.Senior mathematics topics are contained in the final papers in this conference issue. Yen provides a comprehensive overview of probability in the General Mathematics course. Gyton and Salter describe approaches that can assist the teaching of Financial Mathematics in the General Mathematics course, D'Souza introduces spreadsheets into the teaching of Financial Mathematics, and Prescott outlines misconceptions that students have about projectile motion.Participants at the Annual Conference again feature on the cover, particularly 'Queen' Beth as she celebrated 50 years in mathematics education. The photographs include presenters as well as interactions at the Conference Dinner. Thanks go to Bernice Beechey and Peter Dinham for their efforts in obtaining the papers from conference presenters, to Garry Webb for providing further photographs for the cover, and to all who contributed to the wealth of knowledge contained herein.