Logo building blocks: Student teachers using computer-based mathematics apparatus

We describe experiments in which student teachers, who have been identified by their college of education as needing mathematical help, undertook a computer-based elementary maths course. Our objectives were to assess the effect of this work on the students' mathematical performance and attitude. The students were given hands-on experience of the programming language LOGO, which included both writing simple programs and running pre-defined procedures, such as those for illustrating the multiplication of fractions pictorially. The computer was used as a piece of mathematics apparatus with which the students could experiment: it did not take any tutorial or managerial role. A variety of mathematics performance and attitude tests were administered pre and post, and the results are described and analysed. Some evidence for the success of the approach is shown, though the experiments underline the enormous difficulty of helping this kind of student.