USE OF COMPUTER ALGEBRA SYSTEMS

ABSTRACT: This paper examines the process through which students learn to make functional use of computer algebra systems (CAS), and the interaction between that process and the wider mathematical development of students. The result of ‘instrumentalising ’ a device to become a mathematical tool and correspondingly ‘instrumenting ’ mathematical activity through use of that tool is not only to extend students ’ mathematical technique but to shape their sense of the mathematical entities involved. These ideas have been developed within a French programme of research –as reported by Artigue in this issue of the journal- which has explored the integration of CAS –typically in the form of symbolic calculators- into the everyday practice of mathematics classrooms. The French research –influenced by socio-psychological theorisation of the development of conceptual systems- seeks to take account of the cultural and cognitive facets of these issues, noting how mathematical norms –or their absence- shape the mental schemes which students form as they appropriate CAS as tools. Instrumenting graphic and symbolic reasoning through using CAS influences the range and form of the tasks and techniques experienced by students, and so the resources available for more explicit codification and theorisation of such reasoning. This illuminates an influential North American study –conducted by Heid- whic