Electronic Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Conference on
Technology in Collegiate Mathematics
CONTRIBUTED PAPER: 12-C32
Spreadsheet mathematics for five year old
Diane Crann
University of Hertfordshire
Hatfield
Hertfordshire
AL10 9AB, UK.
E-mail: d.crann@herts.ac.uk
Carol Pepper
Haberdashers’ Aske’s School for Girls
Elstree
Hertfordshire
WD6 3BT UK
ABSTRACT
Spreadsheets have been used in the High School, College and University classrooms for the past eight years or so for the teaching and learning of quite sophisticated mathematical numerical methods. However, it is also possible to introduce spreadsheets to very young children to encourage them to discuss ideas in basic mathematics and its applications. Indeed it can stimulate teachers to look at problems with the children from a perspective quite different from the usual approaches.
We shall demonstrate an idea which was taken with a class of children in first grade in an English primary school and suggest ideas for further development.