| Guided by a sociocultural theoretical framework, this case study investigated the relationship among talk, calculator use, and learning, and the teacher's role in this process. This study was conducted in a fifth-grade mathematics classroom for an entire school year to allow for the documentation of the development in classroom talk and calculator use. A careful record of what happened in the classroom was documented by compiling field notes, audiotaping mathematics instruction, and collecting artifacts such as student work in the curriculum materials and samples of student writing. The main research question underlying the study was: In a mathematics classroom, how do interactions and the use of calculators mediate one another and ultimately the learning of mathematics? Subquestions included: (1) How does the teacher structure and mediate social situations to enhance students' ability to learn to their potential within the zone of proximal development? (2) How does the calculator serve as a cognitive tool?; This study provides one model of effective instruction with calculators. It also suggests that calculator keystrokes are social tools that can facilitate social activity, learning, and development of higher psychological processes such as planning, analysis, problem solving, and writing. It confirms the significant role of the teacher. It emphasizes the importance of talk in the classroom. It challenges the education community to rethink the use of calculators in promoting the learning of mathematics. |
