CAS IN THE CLASSROOM:

YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW

WILLIAM C. BAULDRY

A BSTRACT. We will consider the development of classroom use of computer algebra systems (CAS) from different per-
spectives. Starting with a brief history and timeline of CAS, we’ll highlight the explosive growth during the ’60s and 80’s.
The innovations of these two decades brought CAS to the classroom. Early uses were limited, but implementing CAS on
microcomputers and the addition of good graphics fomented widespread adoption.
Current usage is our next topic. Today there are two main pedagogical practices: CAS as a high-level computation engine,
and CAS-based microworld’s for exploration. We are presently at the cusp between desktop and mobile platforms. Another
quantum growth step in CAS adoption, like the mainframe-to-desktop burst of the 80s, is beginning. Programs and resources
TM TM TM TM
such as PocketCAS & iCAS and Maple Player & Wolfram Alpha are presenting new opportunities to incorporate CAS
in our classrooms.
We will close with predictions and hopes for future CAS technology. The question is, ”Where can CAS help us to go in
didactics and pedagogy tomorrow?”

O UTLINE

I. I NTRODUCTION III. T ODAY

1. Setting the Stage 1. Current Foci
2. Handheld and Online Tools
II. Y ESTERDAY 3. The Beginning of CAS Assessment Tools
1. A Little Bit of History
2. First Steps IV. T OMORROW
3. Engagement 1. Mobility & Personal Mathematics Power
4. CAS and the “Calculus Wars” 2. Imagine...

Prediction is always difficult. Especially about the future.

— Mark Twain (or Yogi Berra or Niels Bohr or Albert Einstein or . . . )

Good Morning! I’d like to begin by thanking the co-chairs Josef Böhm, Eno Tõnison, and Marina Lepp for this
opportunity and for making it so easy to come to Estonia, and also I’d like to thank the program committee, especially
Michel Beaudin, for inviting me to speak this morning. Being at TIME 2012 at the University of Tartu is very exciting.

I. I NTRODUCTION
1. Setting the Stage. Today, we’ll look at the development of computer algebra systems (CAS). How the systems
began with special purpose programs and developed into the powerful, abstract mathematical engines of today. At the
same time, educators perceived the value of CAS for pedagogy. Not only could CAS help students study and learn
mathematics, both pure and applied, but CAS would also change the focus and topics that could be studied. CAS can
be an enabling tool for many students. CAS use in classrooms from secondary schools to graduate study has become
widespread. There are ongoing studies of the impact of CAS on student learning. And the possibilities for what we will
be able to do in the future are simply amazing.
But before going to tomorrow’s CAS, let’s start with the beginnings to see how we have arrived at where we are now.

Date: 11 July, 2012.

1
 CAS in the Classroom: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Wm C Bauldry

II. Y ESTERDAY
1. A Little Bit of History. CAS has a long and rich history that goes back to the early ’50s. The problems motivating
CAS development and research started with large computations needed in physics. There were two directions that early
developers followed: writing special purpose programs like SAINT, the automatic integrator, and libraries of routines
such as Bell Lab’s ALPAK. Three types of researchers developed systems: mathematicians interested in algorithmic
mathematics, physicists for large computations, and artificial-intelligence researchers studying machine-implemented
mathematical decision processes.

2. First Steps. The first concrete steps started with two masters theses, both awarded in 1953:
• H Kahrimanian, Analytical differentiation by a digital computer, Masters thesis, Temple University, 1953.
• J Nolan, Analytical differentiation on a digital computer, Masters thesis, MA Institute of Technology, 1953.
The timeline of CAS development in Figure 1 will help us to keep track of the progress of CAS as we go forward.
Computer Algebra Timeline

1950 — • 1980 — • • 1980 VAXIMA

• 1981 SMP

• 1953 Master Theses: Kahrimanian, Nolan • 1983 Maple, Symbolics MACSYMA

• 1984 DOE-Macsyma, FORM
1955 — • • 1985 — • • 1985 MathCAD, Powermath, J of Symbolic Computation
• 1986 REDUCE/PC
• 1987 Milo, HP-28C
1988 ISSAC • • 1988 Derive, Macintosh Maple, Mathematica, PARI, Theorist
• 1989 MACSYMA/PC
1960 — • • 1990 — •
• 1991 Axiom, ALJABR, Mathcad, ParaMacs, SymbMath
• 1992 SIMATH
• 1963 ALPAK

1965 — • • 1965 Buchberger’s algorithm 1995 — • • 1995 MuPAD, TI-92

1966 SYMSAM ’66 • • 1966 SYMBAL
• 1967 Berlekamp’s algorithm • 1997 CASIO-Maple
1968 Risch Algorithm • • 1968 ALTRAN, CAMAL, FORMULA, FORMAC, MATHLAB
• 1969 MACSYMA • 1999 Yacas
1970 — • • 1970 REDUCE, SchoonShip 2000 — • • 2000 Giac/Xcas, Maxima (DOE-Macsyma)

• 1974 SCRATCHPAD
1975 — • 2005 — • • 2005 Sage

• 1979 muMath • 2009 TI-Nspire, PocketCAS

1980 — • • 1980 VAXIMA 2010 — • • 2010 iCAS (REDUCE)
• 1981 SMP

F IGURE 1. The Development of CAS

3. Engagement. The ’60s saw exponential growth in both the different CAS programs being developed and the depth
of mathematics being attempted. In ’61, Slagle’s PhD dissertation produced SAINT (Symbolic Automatic INTegrator)
which used a heuristic approach much like a freshman calculus student. In ’63, Veltman developed Schoonschip to
handle huge computations in particle physics that involved over 50,000 terms (still available as open-source software);
Veltman received a Noble prize in 1999. At MIT in ’65, Engleman wrote MATHLAB to be the first interactive CAS.
MATHLAB evolved into the Macsyma project that was the training ground for so many computer algebra designers
(see [15]). At the end of the 60’s at IBM, Dick Jenks started the Scratchpad project that would evolve to become Axiom.
The first conferences dedicated to CAS were held in 1966. ACM’s “SYMSAC 66: Symposium on Symbolic &
Algebraic Manipulation” was held in Washington, D.C, and SAME’s “Symbol Manipulation Languages & Techniques”
occurred in Pisa. These conferences eventually merged to become the ISSAC series.
The next CAS growth-spurt came in the 80’s; it was caused in part by the microcomputer. David Stoutemeyer and Al
Rich introduced muMath, the first CAS for a microcomputer, in ’79, which grew into Derive. Geddes and Gonnet began
work on Maple in 1980 and produced a version that ran on Apple’s Macintosh in ’85. A host of systems came out in ’88:
Derive, Wolfram’s Mathematica (from SMP), Avitzur’s Milo, and Bonadio’s Theorist. Almost 25 years later most of
these important systems are still leaders: TI Nspire CAS (from Derive), Maple, and Mathematica & Wolfram’s Alpha.
Two major mathematical results drove computer algebra development forward: Bruno Buchberger’s algorithm (’65)
for producing a Gröbner basis from a set of polynomials [2] and Robert Risch’s algorithm (’68) for determining either
2
CAS in the Classroom: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Wm C Bauldry

the closed form of an indefinite integral or its nonexistence [17]. These results gave power to the promise computer
mathematics.
For more on the history of CAS, see, e.g., Decker [7].
At the same time CAS was appearing in classrooms around the world.

4. CAS and the “Calculus Wars”. Buchberger compiled the proceedings of the “Special Section on Symbolic
Mathematical Systems and Their Effect on the Curriculum” held in 1984 in the SIGSAM Bulletin [3]. The proceedings
included a number of reports on using CAS in the classroom including Stoutemeyer’s “A radical proposal for computer
algebra in education” [18] that called for many uses and careful study; Stoutemeyer called for “computer algebra
[to be] used in math education” for: • Computer-Aided Instruction; • Automatic Drill, Testing & Record Keeping;
• Enrichment and Motivation; • Preparation & Checking of Teaching Materials; and • Computer Algebra Courses.
There were four meetings on CAS and “their effects on the curriculum” in Adelaide, Australia, at the Fifth International
Congress on Mathematical Education in 1984. Caviness [4] reported in EUROCAL ’85 that the focus was on how
“computer algebra will affect education: (i) courses about computer algebra, (ii) courses on how to use computer algebra
and (iii) pedagogical uses of computer algebra.” We also saw doctoral research on using CAS in collegiate instruction.
Two early dissertations are Heid’s An exploratory study to examine the effects of resequencing skills and concepts in
an applied calculus curriculum through the use of the microcomputer [11] and Palmiter’s The Impact of a Computer
Algebra System on College Calculus [16]. Demana and Waits launched the International Conference on Technology in
Collegiate Mathematics (ICTCM) series [6]; the first ICTCM was held at Ohio State Univ in 1988; the 25th ICTCM
will be held in Boston March 21-24, 2013. The TIME series was begun by Böhm, Heugl, and Kutzler in ’92 in Krems,
Austria, through their Austrian Center for Didactics of Computer Algebra; in 2014, the TIME conference will return to
its original site, Krems.
During the ’90s, CAS entered the mainstream and became widespread in classrooms. Initially instructors used CAS
for algebraic and graphical demonstrations, as an arbitrary precision calculator, as a powerful symbolic calculator, for
extended and real-world exercises, and for extended laboratory-style inquiry sessions. (See, e.g., [14].) A number of
the early adopters were funded by the National Science Foundation’s ILI program. With this funding, projects began
to produce texts such as Calculus Projects with Maple V [1] in the early ’90s up to full course texts like Calculus:
Mathematics and Modeling [8] at the end of the decade. CAS had become ubiquitous and was in students’ hands
whether their instructors were prepared or not. Students had CAS calculators that
• Added a powerful mathematics expert to the classroom!
• Changed the approach to topics!
• Changed the topics to approach!
• Changed the answers to didactic questions!
• Changed the questions needing didactic answers!
Not everyone was pleased. There was large scale turmoil in mathematics instruction — the Calculus Wars ensued.
(See, e.g., [19].)
A large backlash to didactic use of CAS appeared. Groups of eminent research mathematicians opposed the changes
due to CAS use and entered local school-politics to remove reforms. There were fissions in departments among former
friends. Some departments would not accept transfer credit for ‘reformed courses.’ Much of the controversy has quieted,
but there are still a few departments where technology is mistrusted and not welcome. The important question was and
still is: What is important in mathematics instruction?
Most of us see the utility of incorporating CAS in a thoughtful and meaningful way today.

III. T ODAY
There are now experts the world over using CAS in the classroom and investigating the didactic implications for
students. Since this conference is one of the main venues, we need to quickly get to the coming presentations. So we’ll
give a brief version of today’s usage and look for emerging directions.

1. Current Foci. Development of CAS continues full-force in many directions. CAS continues to become stronger as
a powerful symbolic manipulators; the mathematics capability keeps growing in both pure and applied areas. We see
partial differential equation solvers using Galois theory to generate solutions; we have Gröbner basis based algorithms
that perform significant algebraic manipulations and solving. (See, e.g., [13]). The elegant graphics available today
allow for amazing visualizations for research and especially for teaching. Students are able to visually study concepts.
CAS systems such as Maple and Alpha have become huge mathematics knowledge-bases or encyclopedias complete
3
CAS in the Classroom: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Wm C Bauldry

with ‘Math-Search’ facilities. New texts that are based in a CAS have started to appear having grown from worksheets
to complete learning environments. Mathematical microworld platforms are being developed that put students into a
carefully designed, didactically supportive environment for studying a particular topic. At the same time, the interfaces
to CAS are becoming more and more user-friendly and easy to navigate. Students can use palettes to build expressions
rather than memorizing difficult syntaxes; CAS objects can be operated on through context-sensitive, pop-up menus
rather than memorizing arcane command names. The popular systems, Maple, Mathematica, MuPad, Giac/Xcas, and
Sage are all pushing the boundaries of CAS.

2. Handheld and Online Tools. Handheld CAS is an exciting new direction that has seen several recent developments.
Initial progress was slow: HP introduced the HP-28 series in 1987, then nearly 10 years passed before TI gave us the TI
92 in 1996. Some models came and left quickly. Casio’s Cassiopeia equipped with a removable flash card containing a
student version of Maple V was discontinued not long after its release in 2001. However, the tide is turning. Casio’s
ClassPad and FX series calculators, TI’s Nspire CAS handheld and software (PC & Mac), have brought CAS to the
classroom in elegant ways. But a new trend, CAS for smart-phones and tablet computers, is expanding. PocketCAS has
both lite (free) and Pro versions for the iPad, iPhone, and Android based phones; the new system iCAS runs on iOS
devices. PocketCAS is based on the open-source Xcas, while iCAS is based on the long-time system REDUCE.
We even see old ideas in new formats that make them interesting and useful. The old client-server format is renewed
with online CAS systems. Mathematica has led to Wolfram’s Alpha offering a free version and a subscription. The Sage
project hosts a free web-based mathematics server at www.sagenb.org. We have these two directions, self-contained
handheld and handheld client access becoming more sophisticated. We also have the wider dichotomy of commercial,
proprietary applications like Mathematica, whose kernel is opaque, meeting open-source freely available systems like
Sage.

3. The Beginning of CAS Assessment Tools. Today, professional educational organizations include CAS in their
current pedagogical standards. The Math. Assoc. of America’s Curriculum Foundations Project states “Mathematics
majors ... should, in particular, have experience with a computer algebra system during the first two years of under-
graduate training” [9, pg 110] and “Courses for future teachers [need to] make use of computer algebra systems to
investigate equivalence of expressions and transformations of functions” [9, pg 150]. The US Common Core State
Standards Initiative (CCSS), adopted by 45 states and 3 US territories, includes 7 references to CAS in the published
mathematics standards [5]. The specific areas where CAS use is mentioned in the CCSS include: • Use appropriate
tools strategically; • Numbers & Number Systems; • Algebra: expressions; • Rewrite rational expressions; • Functions:
graphing; • Geometry; and • Mathematical Modeling.
The literature supporting CAS’s didactical use is also mature. We have text such as The Didactical Challenge Of
Symbolic Calculators [10] and reports like Research on Technology and the Teaching and Learning of Math [12]. There
are journals devoted to technology in education, for instance, The International Journal for Technology in Mathematics
Education (originally the Int’l Journal of CA in Math Ed) and also popular magazines like Campus Technology. Of
course, we can’t forget centers dedicated to CAS didactics: a long-standing leader has been the Austrian Center for
Didactics of Computer Algebra.1
We are also beginning to study how CAS affects assessment. Currently, both Austria and Germany are at the leading
edge of implementing CAS use on national student exams. CAS allows us to ask and grade free-response questions.
DIfferent students can use different syntax and forms, yet still have correct answers. CAS recognize these equivalencies.
CAS also provides for new types of questions: we can produce algorithmically generated questions with sophisticated
mathematics behind parameter generation. MapleTA can ask a student to identify a feature of an algorithmically
generated graph by clicking on a plot. We can also conceive of CAS analyzing a student’s response and producing an
adaptive examination with algorithmically generated questions; this feature is not far away.

TIME 2012 isn’t the only conference on technology in education this year. There is an impressive list of important
meetings occurring around the world. Table 1 gives a list of 13 technology conferences scheduled just between March
and December of this year alone.
We’ll close our look at Today with current critical questions of didactics that need continuing study. There are
questions on CAS directly: How should CAS be developed to assist learning? and How is CAS best used to enhance
learning? There are questions on CAS use in mathematics education: Which topics are best served by CAS? and How is
CAS incorporated into mathematics effectively? Finally, there are questions on the role of CAS in assessment: How can

1The ACDCA folks caused much consternation in Honolulu when they first contacted Soft Warehouse for a site license for a whole country!

4
CAS in the Classroom: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Wm C Bauldry

T3 March 2, Chicago, Illinois, USA education.ti.com/calculators/pd/US/International/2012/

ICTCM 24 March 22, Orlando, Florida, USA ictcm.pearsontc.net/
PCA 2012 Polynomial CA 2012, April 23, St. Peters- www.pdmi.ras.ru/EIMI/2012/pca/
burg, Russia
ECCAD East Coast CA Day, May 12, Rochester, www.oakland.edu/math/eccad2012
Michigan, USA
SCA Symbolic Comp & its Appl’s, May 17, www.math.rwth-aachen.de/∼Viktor.Levandovskyy/SCA2012/
Aachen, Germany
WCA 15th Workshop On CA, May 23, Dubna, compalg.jinr.ru/Dubna2012/
Russia
CADGME CA & Dyn Geo Soft in Math Ed, June 22, sites.dmi.rs/events/2012/CADGME2012/
Novi Sad, Serbia
ACA 2012 June 25, Sofia, Bulgaria www.math.bas.bg/ACA2012/
TIME 2012 July 10, Tartu, Estonia time2012.ut.ee/
ISSAC 2012 July 22, Grenoble, France www.issac-symposium.org/2012/
CASC 2012 September 3, Maribor, Slovenia www14.in.tum.de/CASC2012/
ASCM 2012 Asian Symp on Comp Math, October 26, www.mmrc.iss.ac.cn/ascm/ascm2012/
Beijing, China
ACTM Asian Tech Conf in Math, December 16, atcm.mathandtech.org/
Bangkok, Thailand
TABLE 1. 2012 CAS Conferences

CAS enhance assessment in the background? and How can CAS be used by students in assessment situations? Many of
these questions are the subjects of presentations we’ll be seeing here in Tartu.
These are exciting times for CAS.

IV. T OMORROW
What new trends will appear? Where will CAS development take us? These are questions in all our minds as we
prepare for tomorrow’s students.

1. Mobility & Personal Mathematics Power. In 1995, TI introduced the TI 92 containing a version of Derive which
led to the Nspire CAS in 2010. In 1999, Maple and Casio announced theA-22Tpalm computer with a version Maple
V (and also with Geometers Sketchpad). The most exciting new development was the appearance of PocketCAS for
iPhones and iPads in 2010 and now iCAS, based on REDUCE, is also available for iOS. We have powerful, easy to use,
CAS on smartphones and tablets. There is convergence in a single, widely-available device: Phone + PDA + Email +
Web browser + Graphing Calculator + CAS! Our students will have the power of CAS in their hands; they will have
instant, always-on access to powerful CAS servers online. How do we use these in classes? What are the appropriate
didactics?

2. Imagine. We can only speculate on what tomorrow will bring. But the pace of enhancement is quick. And relentless.
We’ll close this morning with two fanciful scenarios of students with their new CAS capabilities. Will these come true
tomorrow?

A Group Project. A student takes her CAS-pad from her backpack, unfolds it, and begins to enter mathematics and text
with a stylus receiving instantaneous responses, formulas and graphs from the CAS server in the cloud. Her teammate
across campus appears in her CAS-pad’s video message window to add his computation to their solution on the shared
portion of her screen. She annotates their work adding references with hot-links. She activates the voice mode for
finishing touches, editing their report, and recording her narrative explaining the problem and their solutions techniques.
She then tells her CAS-pad to email their report to her instructor with a copy going to her partner.
Now her CAS-pad generates a Sudoku puzzle for her to enjoy...
5
CAS in the Classroom: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow Wm C Bauldry

A Qualifying Examination. A student comes to the Assessment Center to qualify for his mathematics credits. He
unfolds his CAS-pad, authenticates with his smartcard, and begins the test. The first problem requires some background
computations. As he writes on the board, his CAS-pad captures his work. The student encounters an unfamiliar term,
but when he attempts to use his math search engine, the assessment system blocks his access. He adds several voice
annotations to his responses, then submits his work. The CAS-enhanced system analyzes his answer; the system
determines the next question based on his previous response and presents the student with the new challenge. At the
end of his session, our student receives a Credit Awarded certificate in his email.
Our student goes to meet his friends to celebrate... Terviseks!

As CAS continues to become faster, more powerful, comprehensive, pervasive, and easier to use, we need to ask:
• What mathematics do our students need to learn ...
• Where will CAS help us to go in didactics and pedagogy...
tomorrow?

And now, it’s time for TIME 2012!

Tänan Väga.

R EFERENCES
[1] W Bauldry and J Fiedler, Calculus Project with Maple V, Brooks-Cole Pub Co, 1990.
[2] B Buchberger, Ein Algorithmus zum Auffinden der Basiselemente des Restklassenrings nach einem nulldimensionalen Polynomideal, PhD thesis,
Universität Innsbruck, 1965.
[3] B Buchberger, Special Section on Symbolic Mathematical Systems and Their Effect on the Curriculum, SIGSAM Bull., 18/19 (4), 1984
[4] B Caviness, “Computer Algebra: Past And Future,” EUROCAL ’85, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Band I & II, Springer-Verlag, 1985;
and J. Symbolic Computation (1986) 2, pg 217-236.
[5] CCSSI, Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State
School Officers, Washington D.C, 2010.
[6] F Demana, J Harvey, and B Waits, Proc. of the First ICTCM, Addison-Wesley, 1988.
[7] W Decker, “Some Introductory Remarks on Computer Algebra,” European Congress of Mathematics: Barcelona, July 10-14, 2000, Volume 2,
pg 121-142.
[8] W Ellis, W Bauldry, J Fiedler, F Giordano, P Judson, E Lodi, R Vitray, and R West, Calculus: Mathematics and Modeling, Addison-Wesley,
1999.
[9] S Ganter, editor, The Curriculum Foundations Project: Voices of the Partner Disciplines, MAA, 2004.
[10] D Guin, K Ruthven, and L Trouche, editors, The Didactical Challenge of Symbolic Calculators: Turning a Computational Device into a
Mathematical Instrument, Springer, 2005.
[11] M K Heid, An exploratory study to examine the effects of resequencing skills and concepts in an applied calculus curriculum through the use of
the microcomputer, PhD dissertation, University of Maryland, 1984.
[12] M K Heid and G Blume, editors, Research on Technology and the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics, Vol 1, IAP, 2008.
[13] E Kaltofen, “The ‘Seven Dwarfs’ of Symbolic Computation,” in Numerical and Symbolic Scientific Computing, Texts and Monographs in
Symbolic Computation, Volume 1, Springer-Verlag, 2012, pp 95-104.
[14] P Leadbetter and P Thomas, “A Review of Computer Algebra and its Educational Implications in the Teaching of Mathematics,” Education &
Computing 5 (1989), pg 243-259.
[15] J Moses, “Macsyma: A Personal History,” Invited Presentation, Milestones in Computer Algebra, Tobago, 2008.
[16] J Palmiter, The Impact of a Computer Algebra System on College Calculus, PhD dissertation, The Ohio State University, 1986.
[17] R Risch, “The problem of integration in finite terms,” Trans Am Math Society 139, 1969, pg 167-189.
[18] D Stoutemyer, “A Radical Proposal For Computer Algebra In Education,” SIGSAM Bull., 18/19 (4), 1984, pp 40-53.
[19] D Tall, D Smith, and C Piez, “Technology and Calculus,” in M K Heid & G Blume (Eds), Research on Technology and the Teaching and
Learning of Mathematics, Volume I: Research Syntheses, 2008, pg 207-258.

E-mail address: BauldryWC@appstate.edu

URL: mathsci2.appstate.edu/∼wmcb/

M ATHEMATICAL S CIENCES
A PPALACHIAN S TATE U NIVERSITY
B OONE , NC 28608
USA
6