While it seems clear that instruction on both procedures and concepts is important in mathematics education, the relative importance of each and the order teachers should use each to build instruction with handheld technology such as graphing calculators is still unsettled.

To help begin answering these questions, researcher  randomly divided 34 algebra students who were to begin their study of writing linear equations into two groups. One group received conceptual then procedural instruction on writing linear equations; the other group received the same instruction in reverse order. Both groups had access to the TI-Nspire™ handheld. Our findings suggest that conceptual instruction followed by instruction that integrates both concepts and procedures was the most efficacious in helping students learn to begin writing linear equations.