Using Spreadsheets to Promote Algebraic Thinking

For students to find algebra conceptually meaningful, as well as useful in modeling and analyzing real-world problems, they must be able to reflect on, make sense of, and communicate about general numerical procedures (Kieran 1992). Such procedures consist of set sequences of arithmetic operations performed on numbers. Examples include computing an average and performing the standard division algorithm. Thinking about numerical procedures starts in the elementary grades and continues in successive grades until students can eventually express and reflect on the procedures using algebraic symbolism. This article outlines how such thinking can progress to algebraic reasoning and illustrates how computers used to promote this progression.