The computer is used in an elementary way to provide some data on a topic of interest. There should be no problems of motivation with this kind of computer assisted mathematics. Pupils and teachers like to explore number properties and patterns. Articles on primes and perfect numbers, on triangular and pentagonal numbers, on squares, on recurring decimals and on sequences of special interest are frequently published in teachers' journals. Learners are provided with a stimulating range of material for mathematical work.
Computers too are attractive.
We still experience the novelty of the new technology. We like to see what the computer can do and how it responds to our commands. With the twin attractions of number and computer, learning can indeed be fun. The investigation of numbers which are both triangular and square might begin with the recall of a primary school experience in which some such numbers were found by drawing triangles and squares on a paper grid of dots or by threading such figures on a pin board. He describes how an eleven year old pupil became absorbed in a study of number patterns and of how she proceeded from paper drawings of triangles and squares to a discovery of the sequential patterns of the corresponding numbers.