Abstract: The common electronic spreadsheet may conjure up visions of accounting or auditing applications, however, it is a vastly underrated tool when it comes to illustration and modelling of mathematical fundamentals.

In 2002, the speaker established the electronic journal Spreadsheets in Education http://epublications.bond.edu.au/ejsie/. It was set up to provide a focus for researchers and teachers to share their ideas and experiences of using the modern electronic spreadsheet as a teaching tool. The journal is devoted to the publication of peer-reviewed articles which provide a focus for advances in our understanding of the role that spreadsheets can play in constructivist educational contexts. The first number of volume three of the journal was published in June 2008. The journal is fully open access.

The presentation will give a brief overview of major insights gleaned by researchers of roles played by the ubiquitous spreadsheet over the past 25 years in educational contexts. Following this, some examples will be given where Microsoft Excel is used to illustrate and model mathematical concepts, including applications to elementary financial and discrete mathematics.
 

Brief Biography of the Speaker: Steve Sugden is Associate Professor (Mathematics and Computation) at Bond University. He obtained his PhD in Operations Research (nonlinear integer programming) from Bond in 1992, working under the supervision of Professor Bruce Murtagh, creator of the AESOP and MINOS optimization packages. His scientific career has been rather diverse, with significant periods in industry, working in areas as diverse as solar energy, technical engineering software for various Queensland electricity authorities, and cryptographic software engineering. His present research interests at Bond centre on the use of technology in mathematics education, especially modern spreadsheet programs such as Microsoft’s Excel. In 2002, he established the open access electronic journal Spreadsheets in Education, hosted at Bond. This journal publishes fully peer-reviewed articles plus classroom resources for teachers. In recent years, he has also been active in consulting work and has developed several mathematical models relating to aspects of Keno.