shows the current ENCAL interface which incorporates the three external representations (i.
A coded summary of the results and the performance coding meanings from the ENCAL evaluation is shown below in Tables 1 and 2 respectively.
These results suggest that ENCAL has a very beneficial effect on performance.
ENCAL has been designed to facilitate translation (i.
In particular, ENCAL facilitated deeper mathematical understanding through the translation process from the problem statement, to an intermediate re-representation of the problem, to computation.
However, a drawback of ENCAL is that it does not keep previous representational states for reference once a representation has been modified by a user.
The results of the ENCAL experiment tended to reflect this position.
ENCAL is at present limited to addition and multiplication.
To this end, ENCAL aims to: (a) develop pupils' conceptual and procedural knowledge through the use of multiple linked representations for evaluating multi-step arithmetic expressions; (b) utilise the calculator as a means of understanding the manipulation of arithmetic expressions which involve the use of multiple operators; and (c) develop an awareness of order of operation hierarchy with the use of parentheses.