Main presenter			Co-presenter(s)
Name :	Dr. Keith Leatham		Name:
E-mail:	kleatham@mathed.byu.edu		E-mail:
Institution or Company:	Brigham Young University		Name:
Department:	Mathematics Education		E-mail:
City:	Provo		Name:
State/Province:	Utah		E-mail:
Country:	USA		Name:
Type of presentation:	Lecture :  25 minutes.		E-mail:
Conference strand and number:	ACDCA ,    Number: A33		Schedule:   Room:	Saturday, 15h00   1302
Related website:
Title of presentation:	Preservice Mathematics Teachers’ Beliefs about Teaching with Technology
Abstract:
This lecture will report on the findings of a study that investigated preservice secondary mathematics teachers’ (PSTs) beliefs about teaching mathematics with technology (primarily computers and graphing calculators). First, PSTs’ experiences with technology will be described in terms of their ownership of learning mathematics with technology. Experience, knowledge, and confidence were the primary factors that constituted ownership. Second, the primary dimensions of the PSTs’ core beliefs with respect to technology, referred to as their beliefs about the nature of technology in the classroom, will be discussed. These core beliefs consisted of beliefs about the availability of technology, the purposeful use of technology, and the importance of teacher knowledge of technology. Third, the lecture will focus on the roles the PSTs envisioned technology playing in their classrooms. Motivational roles of technology were nonmathematical in nature and were closely tied to the PSTs’ beliefs that effective teachers motivated their students to learn and used a variety of teaching methods. Procedural roles involved using technology to execute calculations or procedures that could also be (and often were) done by hand. Conceptual roles facilitated the visualization and exploration of mathematics. The more PSTs wanted to focus on conceptual understanding and wanted students to take responsibility for that understanding, the more they were concerned about their own ability to facilitate such learning and the need for technology availability. The more PSTs focused on procedural understanding in mathematics and on teacher-centered lessons, the more they were concerned about students misusing technology and failing to learn the procedures. The lecture will conclude with a discussion of the implications of these findings for mathematics teacher education.