Auteur principal			Co-auteurs(s)
Nom :	Gilles Picard		Nom :	Michel Beaudin
Courriel :	gilles.picard@etsmtl.ca		Courriel :	michel.beaudin@etsmtl.ca
Institution ou compagnie:	École de technologie supérieure		Nom :
Département:	Service des enseignements généraux		Courriel :
Ville :	Montréal		Nom :
État/Province :	Québec		Courriel :
Pays :	Canada		Nom :
Type de présentation:	Conférence :  25 minutes.		Courriel :
Conférence et numéro :	Derive & TI-CAS  ,    Numéro : D37		Horaire :   Local :	jeudi, 12h00   1752
Site Internet :	http://www.seg.etsmtl.ca/ti/home.html
Titre de la communication :	5 years of teaching mathematics to students with mandatory symbolic calculators : the good, the bad and the ugly!
Résumé de la communication :
Since the fall of 1999, every students in our classrooms have the same symbolic calculators (TI-89, TI-92 Plus or Voyage 200). We have witnessed just about every possible negative reaction to having this technology available for all students. From ridiculising it, to seeking its weaknesses, to asking students not to use it, up to using it for everything even to solve a simple equation like x + 2 = 5. After almost 5 years, the dust has settled down. First, on the good side, we will show examples, in various topics, of what students can now do in classrooms and how these calculators have changed the way we teach part of the math curriculum. On the bad side, and this is true in general, the more we use technology, the more we tend to depend on it. Students now rely more on these calculators to do basic mathematics. They are less skillful in manual calculations. We will show examples of calculations which are best left to the calculators, examples our students would have some problems resolving manually; this is caused mainly by a lack of practice. We had to make room for the intelligent use of technology and cutting back on some long manual calculations was an easy way to do it. Finally, the ugly side of this on-going experience. Good students tend to be even better but bad students tend to be even worse. At the low end of the scale, some students cannot do mathematics without a symbolic calculator and usually don’t understand much of what the technology is doing for them. We have seen, in the last few years, an evolution in course topics, in exam questions linked to the use of symbolic calculators. The major part of the curriculum remains the same but with an intelligent use of the technology, we can now change the way we view and explore, with the students, some aspects of mathematics.