EJMT Abstract

In many countries, calculators that are considered traditional technological devices are widely used in compulsory mathematics education, but the creative application is almost missing from everyday Hungarian school practice. In this paper we focus on the inductive observation process supported by calculator and investigate whether the way of observation have an influence on the way of reasoning. We designed a problem appropriate for the “looking for pattern” strategy and constructed a lesson plan for five experimental groups: four of prospective mathematics teachers and one of 6th Grader students. We summarise our findings on pros and cons of using calculator in the inductive thinking process.