Spreadsheets—a Tool for the Mathematics Classroom

摘要

After teaching Newton's method for approximating roots to a precalculus class as a paper-and-pencil and calculator investigation, I was faced with the problem of evaluating my students' work. I knew that in many instances they would have made arithmetic errors and that often such errors would be hard to spot. A spreadsheet was an ideal tool for checking their work. At first, I would program the spreadsheet to model Newton's method, enter a student's first guess, and check the resulting approximations. I could then proudly circle an error, and the students would be impressed at my diligence in tracing through their arithmetic.