The Learning Style of Students and Utilization of CAS in Exploration-based
Learning

Tadashi Takahashi
Department of Intelligence and Informatics
Konan University
8-9-1 Okamoto, Higashinada, Kobe
Hyogo 658-8501, JAPAN
Phone: (Japan)+78-435-2533
E-mail: takahasi@konan-u.ac.jp

The utilization of CAS can support an exploration-based learning style.  Up to
now, CAS has been used in mathematics education mainly as a device for
explanation.  And rather than serving as a neutral tool, it has often been
imposed on students by the teacher.  The use of CAS is also limited by the
learning content, and because teachers have a strong influence over the
interpretation of teaching materials, in order to make the learning content
intuitively understandable, CAS significantly limits the activities and
knowledge of students.

In order to overcome this problem, CAS must be used in a precise way, in
accordance with the aims of learning activities.  If this is not possible then
CAS use will be merely enjoyable, but the learning content will be unclear, and
students will not be able to appreciate the value of using CAS.  CAS is in
essence a tool to support exploratory thinking.

Accordingly, since it was developed, CAS has been a tool of experts.  In order
to utilize it as a tool for mathematics education, CAS must be employed not as
a device for explanation, but as a tool for the support of thinking―otherwise
it is not being used in an essential way.  People turn over ideas in their
minds and put them to the test, finally building several ideas.  Using CAS as a
tool to support this thinking process is the real way to utilize it as an
effective tool for learning mathematics. By analyzing the learning styles of
students and the use of CAS in exploration-based learning, we can shed light on
the relationship between them.