ABSTRACT
The advent of graphing utilities in the form of calculators and computer software allows teachers and students to quickly and accurately construct and manipulate the graphs of functions —a process that was once beyond the scope of school mathematics. This change in accessibility to useful mathematical representations and information has important implications for the curriculum. This chapter addresses these implications in three sections. The first section outlines some of the forces that have shaped the existing curriculum, noting that although there have been calls for increased use of graphs and functions in mathematics, neither has yet played a prominent role. We believe technological developments can change this situation, making important and useful mathematical ideas accessible and interesting to a much broader range of students. The second section utilizes a number of examples to illustrate this potential for change. We contend that a graphical approach makes it easier to work with many existing topics, greatly increases the range of problems which are accessible to students, and reduces the prerequisite of extensively developed manipulative skills, so that students can spend more time modeling and solving problems. The last section discusses some of the issues that must be addressed and the research that must be conducted to support these changes.
