The Interpretative Flexibility, Instrumental Evolution and Institutional Adoption of Mathematical Software in Educational Practice: The Examples of Computer Algebra and Dynamic Geometry
Journal of Educational Computing Research, 39 (4):
379-394 (2008)Abstract
This paper examines three important facets of the incorporation of new
technologies into educational practice, focusing on emergent usages of the mathematical tools
of computer algebra and dynamic geometry. First, it illustrates the interpretative flexibility of
these tools, highlighting important differences in ways of conceptualizing and employing
them that reflect their appropriation to contrasting practices of mathematics teaching. Second,
it examines the cultural process of instrumental evolution in which mathematical frameworks
and teaching practices are adapted in response to new possibilities created by these tools,
showing that such evolution remains at a relatively early stage. Third, it points to crucial
prerequisites, at both classroom and systemic levels, for effective institutional adoption of
such tools: explicit recognition of the interplay between the development of instrumental and
mathematical knowledge, including the establishment of a recognized repertoire of toolmediated
mathematical techniques supported by appropriate discourses of explanation and
justification.