ABSTRACT
The use of the word ‘manipulative’ may be unfamiliar to some readers, though it denotes roughly the same thing as ‘physical’ or ‘practical’ apparatus. The noun ‘manipulative’ is used in North America to refer to certain equipment used in the service of the teaching and learning of mathematics. But any choice of word indicates a particular emphasis. ‘Manipulatives’ sound as if they are to be manipulated, that this is their sole raison d’être. ‘Apparatus’ (whether in a gymnasium, a laboratory or a classroom), on the other hand, perhaps forms part of the setting, and hence may be seen as more neutral with regard to whether or how it is to be used.
