An “Instrumental Approach” to Study the Integration of a Computer Tool Into Mathematics Teaching: the Case of Spreadsheets

This article reports on research focused on the integration of a specific computer tool, the spreadsheet, into mathematics teaching. After presenting some important results obtained by research in this area, we revisit these in the light of an instrumental approach, which we perceive as essential to analyse the construction of mathematical meanings in spreadsheet environments and to understand better the questions of technological integration. Then, these theoretical elements are used in order to design an exploratory experiment with grade 7 pupils and analyse its results.