JI.

of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching (2006) 25(4), 309-323

Technology as a Medium for Elementary Preteachers'

Problem-Posing Experience in Mathematics

SERGEI ABRAMOVICH AND EUN KYEONG CHO

State University of New York, College at Potsdam
USA
abramovs @potsdam.edu
chock@potsdam.edu

This article attempts to extend current research and develop-

ment activities related to the use of technology in problem
posing, to early grades mathematics. It is motivated by the
authors' work with elementary preservice teachers toward
this goal, both at the graduate and undergraduate levels. New
York State Learning Standards for K-4 mathematics serve as
a background for technology-enabled learning. Spreadsheet-
based environments designed by the authors (using Microsoft
Excel 2004) are introduced from a tool kit perspective, en-
abling a meaningful combination of manipulative and com-
puting activities by elementary preteachers and their students
alike.

One of the central tenets of the current reform movement in mathemat-

ics education holds that appropriate use of tools of technology is integral to
the teaching and learning of mathematics at all grade levels. In the context
of preparing teachers for the 21st century classrooms, the word "appropri-
ate" may include the notion of teacher as a technologically minded curric-
ulum developer, capable of exploring-and helping his/her students to ex-
plore-new avenues in mathematical content; in particular, being skillful in
the use of technology for posing and solving problems. This puts mathemat-
ics educators involved in the preparation of teachers for elementary schools
in a unique position because such technology-enabled changes in pedagogy
must be feasible from the very outset in the chain of children's educational
experiences.
310 Abramovich and Cho

It has been more than a decade since the National Council of Teach-
ers of Mathematics (1991) suggested that technology has the potential "to
enhance and extend mathematics learning and teaching" and that "the most
promising are in the areas of problem posing and problem solving in ac-
tivities that permit students to design their own explorations and create their
own mathematics" (p. 134). Nonetheless, as an extensive search of the lit-
erature indicates, the few existing papers that describe the use of technology
as a medium for problem posing are mostly concerned with the secondary
mathematics education (Abramovich & Brouwer, 2003; Abramovich & Nor-
ton, 2006; Hoyles & Sutherland, 1986; Laborde, 1995; Noss, 1986; Yerush-
almy, Chazan, & Gordon, 1993).
This article attempts to extend current research and development activi-
ties related to the use of technology in problem posing, to mathematics edu-
cation in early grades. It has been motivated by the authors' work with el-
ementary preservice teachers (referred to as teachers) toward this goal, both
at the graduate and undergraduate levels, using a resource guide (New York
State Education Department, 1998) that provides guidance to districts and
schools in New York for structuring local curricula and instruction. This cur-
riculum document focuses on using open-ended problems with young chil-
dren, something that requires special skills by the teachers. These skills may
include the ability to use computers as cognitive amplifiers in exploring the
open-ended nature of appropriate mathematical situations. In an open-ended
environment of a technology-enhanced classroom, one can expect young
children to ask unforeseen questions about familiar concepts. This, in turn,
has a potential for learning to become a reciprocal process (Confrey, 1995;
Steffe, 1991). Apparently, the implementation of such a dynamic perspective
on the learning of mathematics begins with the preparation of teachers.
It should be noted that to make technology integration into a quality
teacher education program a success, one has to make right decisions re-
garding the choice of software involved. One type of software, which for
more than two decades has gained widespread recognition as an exploratory
tool, is a spreadsheet (Baker & Sugden, 2003). Designed originally for non-
educational purposes, a spreadsheet may be conceptualized in educational
terms as a combination of an electronic blackboard and electronic chalk
(Power, 2000). Thus, it came as no surprise that the Principles and Stan-
dards for School Mathematics (National Council of Teachers of Mathemat-
ics, 2000) recommended that spreadsheets be used with children as early as
in grades 3-5. In support of such a recommendation, several authors report-
ed successful uses of spreadsheets with young children, as well as with their
future teachers in various grade-appropriate contexts (Abramovich, 2003;
Technology as a Medium for Elementary Preteachers' 311

Abramovich, Stanton, & Baer, 2002; Ainley, 1995; Drier, 1999, 2001). This
article introduces spreadsheet-based environments to be used both with the
teachers and their students in the context of situated addition and subtrac-
tion as a medium for both problem posing and problem solving. It focuses
on multiple issues, both practical and theoretical, associated with the use of
technology as a scaffolding device for teachers' open-ended problem posing
experiences as well as young children's ability to explore that type of prob-
lem. As will be shown, problem posing, by definition, includes a problem-
solving phase as an important part.

Open-Ended Mathematics Pedagogy

It has been three decades since the effectiveness of using an open-ended

approach in facilitating and evaluating one's higher order thinking in math-
ematics was emphasized by educational researchers (Becker & Selter, 1996;
Becker & Shimada, 1997; Shimada, 1977). Open-ended pedagogy does not
require only one correct answer. Rather, it requires a "multiplicity of correct
answers or approaches to provide experience in finding something new in
the process, through combining children's own knowledge, skills and math-
ematical ways of thinking" (Becker & Selter, 1996, p. 526). This suggests
the importance of providing teachers with experiences in developing higher
order thinking skills among young children through technology-enhanced
use of open-ended problems. The following is an example of a problem with
a hidden open-ended structure (New York State Testing Program, 1998):
Michael has two quarters, two nickels, and two pennies,
while Tara has a quarter, a nickel, and two dimes. Which
coins could Michael give Tara so that they both have the
same amount of money?

To reveal an open-ended pedagogical potential of this testing problem,

note that if one is allowed to alter its numerical structure as well as rules of
actions involved, many interesting questions can be explored, among them:

* Does the problem have only one correct answer? Why or why not?
* Would an answer to this question be different if Michael and Tara
were allowed to exchange coins?
* Having the same amount of money but in different coins, could Mi-
chael and Tara not find a solution to this problem?
312 Abramovich and Cho

"* Does the answer to the previous question depend on the rules of ac-
tion involved?
"* If Michael and Tara each have two coins, what are the coins that al-
low equal sharing? Does this question have one and only one answer,
both in terms of rules of action and coins involved?
"* Given the amounts of money each of them have, what is the mini-
mum number of coins that can be used to solve this money-sharing
problem?
"* For which combination of coins could Tara share money with Mi-
chael so that after sharing, Tara still has twice (three, four, five, etc.
times) as much money as Michael?

Apparently, the variation provided in the last question is beyond math-

ematical abilities of fourth graders-for whom the test was written. Yet the
case of Tara and Michael having, respectively, 13 cents and 5 cents can eas-
ily be modeled at an even lower grade level under a teacher's guidance by
using pennies. For a teacher to be capable of providing such guidance, he
or she should have experience in designing open-ended situations of this
kind. To help teachers formulate such problems and, consequently, to iden-
tify coins involved as a way of creating conditions-for problem solving, the
authors designed a spreadsheet-based environment with multiple worksheets
that, in addition, have the potential of fostering mathematical reasoning
and thinking skills of young children. This experience for teachers should
include the ability to solve a problem, perhaps in more than one way, by
using grade-appropriate strategies and techniques. Such an approach turns
the original problem into an open-ended one in which numbers involved be-
come parameters that can be altered and tested in a problem-solving situa-
tion and then chosen to signify the completion of the problem-posing phase
of this intellectual activity.

The Money-Sharing Environment

A spreadsheet-based environment designed to support problem-for-

mulating in the context of money sharing consists of two types of work-
sheets--computational and manipulative. The former type includes a single
worksheet designed to develop a numerical part of the problem; the latter
type includes multiple worksheets. The use by teachers of a manipulative
worksheet (MW) is to ensure that problem with numerical data chosen can,
indeed, be solved under a given rule of actions (i.e., either without or with
Technology as a Medium for Elementary Preteachers' 313

money exchange). The environment has the potential to be used by young

children provided that teachers understand three didactical objectives that
structure such a use. The first objective is to situate one's learning of ad-
dition and subtraction in context. The second objective is to provide young
children with the experience of arriving at more than one correct answer in
open-ended, contextually familiar problematic situations. The third objective
is to enhance one's comprehension of the concept of money.
The spreadsheet pictured in Figure 1 includes three slider-controlled
cells-1D3, E3, and C3-the first two of which (problem-posing sliders)
enable the parameterization of difficulty of a problem structure in terms of
properties of numbers representing money (e.g., relationship between the
last digits, mutual proximity of numbers, the size of numbers). The third
(problem solving) slider allows for a computational solution through trial-
and-error that the spreadsheet accepts as the correct one through the mes-
sage "EQUAL!" appearing in cell F3. Simultaneously, it triggers the display
of the amount of money after sharing and provides an evaluative comment
"WOW!" in cells H6 and H2 respectively.

"MM~l.MMIW sx.m~ ~O
3 108 [6 60 48, EQ1LALV

Figure 1. Money calculator worksheet

MW I pictured in Figure 2 is linked to the computational referent

through cells B19 and H19. It includes a four-coin storage from which the
coins can be retrieved through the use of the corresponding macros. In ad-
dition, the coins are arranged in decreasing order of their denominations
and are put into a one-to-one correspondence with macro buttons labeled
according to the coins' names. MW 2 (not pictured here) differs from MW I
314 Abramovich and Cho

in the coins' appearance while preserving the one-to-one correspondence be-

tween a coin and its label. Finally, in MW 3 (not pictured here) the coins are
turned with heads up, are not ordered by denominations, and have had the
one-to-one correspondence between coins and labels removed. Besides be-
ing useful for teachers in the context of problem posing, the three manipula-
tive worksheets have practical applications to early childhood mathematics.

Eraser

;: ,..N L, um..er

Figure 2. Denominations and labels in one-to-one correspondence

Implications for Early Childhood Mathematics

The development of standards for early childhood mathematics has

been a focus of research in recent years (Clements & Sarama, 2004). The
appropriate use of technology brings new opportunities for teaching and
learning at that level. These standards should focus on big ideas of chil-
dren's mathematics defined as "mathematical, central and coherent, consis-
tent with children's thinking and generative of future learners" (Clements,
2004, p. 13). The appropriate use of technology brings new opportunities for
teaching and learning at that level. Facilitating ideas related to numbers and
operations is one of the most important goals for mathematics in the early
grades and, therefore, creating technological tools that support both profes-
sional development of teachers and cognitive growth of young children in
this area is a useful direction in mathematics education. As mentioned by
Kamii (2004), one of the pillars of young children's mathematical knowl-
Technology as a Medium for Elementary Preteachers' 315

edge is the concept of the conservation of numbers that develops through

activities in which the notion of correspondence plays an important role.
Recall that the concept of conservation deals with children's under-
standing that a set of objects in a collection remains the same regardless of
whether they are changed about or altered to look different. The notion of
correspondence refers to the cognitive capability or action to pair (or match)
objects in one collection with objects in another collection. Piaget's (1961)
studies on conservation of number and correspondence between two sets
of objects show the relationship between conservation of quantities and the
development of one-to-one correspondence. Corresponding or pairing ob-
jects is a self-checking way for a child to see if a change in,the formation
of objects alters their total number. As far as qualitative aspects of objects
and their relation to correspondence are concerned, "in order that the corre-
spondence shall be exact (i.e., each term being counted once and once only),
the different terms must be ordered in a sequence in which each element is
distinguishable from all the others" (Piaget, 1961, p. 96). This explains the
design of MW 1 (Figure 2), in which coins (and buttons alike) are arranged
in the decreasing order of their denominations.
Using the concept of conservation, the goal of activities for young chil-
dren using the manipulative worksheets could be to facilitate the develop-
ment of their "logico-mathematical knowledge" (Piaget, 1971) as they learn
"to conserve" coins through creating conditions for problem solving. For
example, the environment allows children "to conserve" coins regardless
of the appearance (heads or tails) and to learn one-to-one correspondence
between coins and buttons. To this end, Macros that generate coins were
written in such a way that if a coin's name and its value (or image) do not
coincide in one's cognitive space, this discordance would become apparent
because it is the button that generates a coin. Thus by trying to click the but-
tons, a child sees the results of his/her actions in terms of the response of the
environment. Moreover, a child's activity on MW I is a complex endeavor.
It involves not only the need to correspond the image of a coin and its name
(in other words, "to conserve" the coin), but also to create conditions for
successful problem solving (creating a set of coins which total value is giv-
en). Note that such conditions might be erroneous as the example of Figure
2 indicates. By using the Coin Eraser, one can delete ill-chosen sets of coins
and then try another combination.
To conclude this section, note that children can be offered activities
according to their levels of reading skills and understanding the coin val-
ues and images. To this end, MW 2 in the money-sharing environment was
designed to enable one's ability to match the images (heads-tails) and the
316 Abramovich and Cho

names of the coins without any clues. To solve the problems, one has to
know and identify the values, names, and images of individual coins. Thus,
MW-2 (as well as MW 3) has the potential to contribute to one's basic un-
derstanding of the values and images of coins as well as to the development
of problem solving skills.

Money-Sharing Problem as"aText within aText"

In the context of the theory of semiotic mediation, the word "text"

refers to any meaningful verbal and nonverbal semiotic structure. In the
money-sharing environment, a number, a set of coins, an evaluative com-
ment can be viewed as text. A problem itself is a text. According to Lotman
(1988), any text may simultaneously serve at least two basic functions-uni-
vocal and dialogic. The univocal function of text is to communicate constant
information; its dialogic function is to generate new meaning. A text capable
of producing new semantic effects is characterized by an open-ended orga-
nization that allows for multiple interpretations and thus, in educational con-
texts, creates conditions conducive to the development of higher order think-
ing skills. However, one's ability to extract multiple meanings from text, that
is, to recognize and then put to work its open structure can not be taken for
granted. Such ability develops through appropriate pedagogical mediation.
Consider the original money-sharing problem. In a traditional learning
environment, its text has rigid boundaries that are not expected (and often
not allowed) to have been crossed. The role of the problem's text in this sit-
uation is to fulfill the univocal function; that is, to request a correct answer.
However, when approached from a dialogic perspective, the problem has the
potential to emerge as text with flexible boundaries, the crossing of which is
the rule rather than an exception. With such a rule being in place, a routine
problem becomes a thinking device or a generator of new meaning that can
animate problem posing followed by problem-solving activity.
It has been argued that a worthwhile mathematical problem evolves
from the awareness of mathematical significance of a situation that one is
attempting to explore (Kilpatrick, 1987). The notion of a worthwhile prob-
lem includes an open-ended problem. In turn, what delineates an open-end-
ed problem is a rich mathematical structure, which permeates the problem
situation and connects it to a new conceptual domain. This connection may
become apparent for a learner when suddenly, through the problem-solving
phase of a problem-posing activity, a new insight into a familiar concept is
generated. The extent to which one gains such insight indicates the extent to
which one's problem-posing skills have been developed.
Technology as a Medium for Elementary Preteachers' 317

Indeed, a technology-enhanced experimentation with coins can reveal

different layers of the problem structure that are disconnected when its text
serves the univocal function. When exploring this structure in an open way
and making connections among its seemingly disconnected layers, one
searches for new meanings and thus enables text to serve its second func-
tion. Of course, not any text allows for a worthwhile dialogic interanima-
tion. Yet, one's ability to recognize internal heterogeneity of text is akin to
the act of sagacity defined by Aristotle as "a hitting by guess upon the es-
sential connection in an inappreciable time" (cited in Polya, 1945, p. 58).
More specifically, when the rules of action allow for the exchange of
coins, one can come up with the following simple questions: In how many
ways can one make a certain amount of money out of pennies and nickels,
or nickels and dimes, or pennies, nickels and dimes? A new twist given to
the original money-sharing problem highlights its semiotically heteroge-
neous layers and allows for an open-ended problem to be conceptualized as
what Lotman (1988) called "a text within a text" structure. Figure 3 shows
an example of a problem formulated by a teacher. The teacher demonstrated
how, through a problem-posing activity, one can hit upon a new conceptual
domain concerned with the partition of numbers into a sum of other num-
bers-a branch of mathematics bordering number theory and combinatorics.

Figure 3. Hitting upon a new conceptual domain

318 Abramovich and Cho

Apparently, as the number of partitions grows larger, one has to reason

systematically in order to handle the multiplicity of answers. The next sec-
tion will show how a spreadsheet can be used as a scaffolding device for
problem posing in the context of partitions, thereby allowing for the devel-
opment of system in intuitive strategies.

From Problem Posing to Systematic Reasoning

Partitioning problems permeate the K-12 mathematics curriculum of

New York State (New York State Education Department, 1998) starting in
early grades. Interestingly, the following problem (cf., questions in the pre-
vious section) was found in the curriculum of a small elementary school in
rural upstate New York: "In how many ways can one make a quarter out
of pennies, nickels, and dimes?" It appears that young children would not
likely be able to find all solutions that the three coins provide. However,
whereas it might not be important for the children to solve the problem
completely, it would be a reasonable expectation for the teachers to do so
because some children may want to know how close their efforts are to the
complete solution.
With this in mind, the spreadsheet pictured in Figure 4 was designed.
Its text has the potential to serve both functions. The univocal function high-
lights 12 ways to change a quarter into pennies, nickels, and dimes. The dia-
logic function reveals a system through which solutions are generated: fix
the number of dimes used (this number varies from zero to two) and find all
combinations of other two coins that comprise a quarter.

[ý R- ýC , -r7r -,-41T

10 4 J

F. 1
Figure 4.Twelve ways to change quarter
Technology as a Medium for Elementary'Preteachers' 319

Learning to reason systematically is an important component of the

mathematical preparation of elementary preteachers. This reasoning can be
enhanced by physically creating all partitions of a quarter in the manipula-
tive environment. The ability to reason systematically, as a result of tech-
nological amplification of mathematical thinking, indicates the emergence
of residual mental power that can be used in the absence of technology
(Abramovich & Norton, 2006).
A didactical power of this environment is that its slider-controlled vari-
ability of numerical data interactively generates the corresponding solution
to a problem, thereby allowing one to formulate an open-ended problem
with a reasonable number of correct answers. Furthermore, the environ-
ment enables an alteration of a problem-solving context while preserving its
mathematical structure. Following is an example of a problem posed by an
elementary preteacher using this environment (Figure 5).

Sarah was on her way to class
Upon finding a soda machine,
80 cents to buy a drink. In her
and quarters. How many ways
chase her soda?
and decided she was thirsty.
she saw that it would cost her
pocket she has nickels, dimes,
can she use her change to pur-

Figure 5. Recognizing geometry of numbers in the multiplicity of answers

The teacher goes on to explain how one can solve this problem through
a system:
First, we should see how many times we could subtract 25
from 80. Secondly, we could see how many times we could
320 Abramovich and Cho

subtract 10 from 80. Third, we could see how many times we

could subtract 5 from 80. Once those three numbers are fig-
ured out, then we could work with them. The number 10 could
also be two 5s. The number 25 could be five 5s, three 5s and a
10, as well as two lOs and a 5. From here on, it is a matter of
grouping numbers together in order to equal 80.

In such a way, the appropriate use of a spreadsheet by teachers in the

context of problem posing can serve both functions, univocal and dialogic,
and thus allow for the meaning-making process to occur as a result of "an
interaction between semiotically heterogeneous layers of text that are mutu-
ally untranslatable relative to one another" (Lotman, 1988, p. 43). Indeed,
the text of Figure 5 has at least two seemingly disconnected layers dealing
with the multiplicity and geometry of answers. The fact that the teacher was
able to make a connection between the two layers is testament to the dia-
logicality of the text of the spreadsheet.

Concluding Remarks

One of the hidden messages of teacher education is that the way teach-
ers learn affects the way that they will teach. This is especially true for
mathematics teacher education. Many efforts of mathematics education re-
form are aimed at the development of new intellectual activities in support
of classroom pedagogy enhanced by constructivist applications of educa-
tional technology. As this article has demonstrated, spreadsheet-based envi-
ronments have the potential to be used by teachers for posing and solving
grade appropriate problems. By being engaged in these activities, teachers
learn to use technology for constructing worthwhile extensions of the exist-
ing curriculum.
Although the experience in technology-enabled mathematical problem
posing is a relatively new pedagogical notion, being grounded in profes-
sional standards for teaching, it has the potential to enhance significantly
early childhood teacher preparation course work. It provides teachers with
research-like skills in the development of instructional materials for early
childhood mathematics. Such skills are critical for making intelligent deci-
sions under the demands of standards-based curricula.
Note that basic familiarity with a spreadsheet is often treated as one
of the components of computer literacy. That is why the software can be
construed as a new generation of educational technology, the utilization of
Technology as a Medium for Elementary Preteachers' 321

which in the elementary classroom is not dependent on financial constraints

and commercial availability. The proficiency of teachers in using a spread-
sheet as a tool for conceptual development and educative growth of young
children becomes an important factor in developing and implementing stan-
dards for early childhood mathematics'. Through technology-enabled prob-
lem posing, the learning of mathematics can become a reciprocal process
that advances intellectual diversity in consistently heterogeneous commu-
nity of learners.

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Note

'In the context of problem-posing environments discussed in this article,

such proficiency can be developed within a special course such as Using
Spreadsheet in Teaching School Mathematics (Abramovich, 2006). At this
website, one can find worksheets pictured in Figures 1 and 2 under the title
"Money Sharing." Those who are interested in the project may contact the
authors and discuss the ways to utilize the environments in more detail.
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Problem-Posing Exper
SOURCE: The Journal of Computers in Mathematics and Science
Teaching 25 no4 2006
PAGE(S): 309-23
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