Student and faculty experiences using computer algebra systems in undergraduate mathematics classrooms

The purpose of this study was to examine student and faculty experiences using computer algebraic systems (CASs) in undergraduate mathematics classrooms. Ninety-five undergraduate students from 4 different mathematics classes, as well as the 4 instructors of those classes, participated in the study. The name of the course was "Computer Algebra Systems," and it served as an introduction to the CAS software, Mathematica. Surveys were developed and used to obtain students' perceptions of their prior experiences as well as their attitudes towards using the CAS in their class. An assessment tool was used to find out if students chose to, and were able to answer pre-calculus type questions using the CAS. The instructors were also given a survey as well and interview questions in order find out their thoughts on implementing the CAS in the class. Field notes were taken throughout the semester by the researcher in order to understand the class operation. The key results of this study found that although a majority of students felt confident in learning with technology, considered the CAS software user-friendly, reporting no difficulties learning with the software, most of them did not use the CAS when attempting to answer pre-calculus questions. Furthermore, a majority of the students did not do well on the assessment tool, in which the researcher noticed several factors that might have influenced the outcome. The main factor was the fact that the instructors were not teaching with a common syllabus towards the course description, and did not use the same method of teaching. Although all of the instructors saw some advantages the CAS has to offer to the mathematics classroom, seminal research studies point out the importance of them knowing how to effectively integrate the CAS into classroom instruction. The researcher recommends that teachers should review and consider influential research done on effective ways to teach with technology (Thompson & Kersaint, 2002). Teachers should work with faculty members who have previously used CAS technology and are capable of acting as guides on how to use technology appropriately in order to have better outcomes.