Abstract
This paper explores the phenomenoiogical and curricular dynamics of implicit mathematical structures embodied in “transparent” computer-based tools. Examples from a clinical study of students working with the Tabletop™ database/ data analysis environment illustrate the process by which disruptions of transparency can provoke increasingly reflective use of a tool and bring students into engagement with valuable mathematical ideas. The interaction among learner, medium and curriculum is seen to have important implications for pedagogy, tool design, and evolving conceptions of mathematics.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
diSessa, A. (1986) Models of computation, in D.A. Norman and S.W. Draper (eds.) User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Falbel, A. and Hancock, C. (1993) Coordinating sets and properties when representing data: The group placement problem, Proceedings, Seventeenth International Conference on the Psychology of Mathematics Education
Hutchins, E.L., Hollan, J.D., and Norman, D.A. (1986) Direct manipulation interfaces, in D.A. Norman and S.W. Draper (eds.) User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. (1991) Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Meira, L. (1991) On the transparency of material displays: The case of learning linear functions, Paper presented at the Conference of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL
Papert, S. (1980) Mindstorms, New York: Basic Books
Polanyi, M. (1958) Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy, Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press
Shneiderman, B. (1983) Direct manipulation; A step beyond programming languages, IEEE Computer, 16/8,57–69
Wenger, E. (1990) Toward a theory of cultural transparency: Elements of a social discourse of the visible and the invisible, Doctoral dissertation, Dept. of Information and Computer Science, UC Irvine
Winograd, T. and Flores, F. (1986) Understanding Computers and Cognition, Norwood, NJ: Ablex
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1995 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Hancock, C. (1995). The Medium and the Curriculum: Reflections on Transparent Tools and Tacit Mathematics. In: diSessa, A.A., Hoyles, C., Noss, R., Edwards, L.D. (eds) Computers and Exploratory Learning. NATO ASI Series, vol 146. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-57799-4_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-57799-4_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-63359-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-57799-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive