As with databases, there has been very little empirical study of the effects of using spreadsheets as cognitive tools. A few studies have examined the effects of different instructional treatments on learning to use spreadsheets (Charney, Reder & Kusbit, 1990; Kerr & Payne, 1994; Tiemann & Markle, 1990). These studies were not investigating the cognitive requirements or effects of using spreadsheets. Rather they were interested in the effects of different computer-based tutorial treatments, and spreadsheets happened to be the content or skill being learned. Baxter and Oatley (1991) compared the effectiveness of two different spreadsheet packages. Not surprisingly, the users' prior experience levels with spreadsheets was far more important to learning than the usability of the software package. These studies provide few insights about the effectiveness of spreadsheets as cognitive tools.
In one of the rare studies investigating spreadsheets as cognitive tools, Sutherland and Rojano (1993) were interested in how prealgebra students could use spreadsheets to represent and solve algebra problems. This study was conducted simultaneously in Britain and Mexico and took place over a 5-month period. During that time, students moved from a strict cause-effect local numerical notion of algebraic relationships to general rule-governed relationships that could be symbolized both in the spreadsheet and in algebraic notation. Another study used spreadsheets in community college math classes to help students solve linear and nonlinear equations problems (Hulse, 1992). Nonsignificant increases in mathematics achievement and decreases in numerical computation anxiety were reported; however, this study was so methodologically flawed by short treatment times and the use of inappropriate measures of achievement that it would be diffficult to generalize the results.
All of the literature that we found provides accounts of how to use spreadsheets in various curricular application, along with some occasional anecdotal support for their use. For instance, Kari (1990) reported from several years of student use that students can learn both spreadsheet construction as well as physical chemistry concepts when provided with partially completed spreadsheets or spreadsheet templates. So the use of spreadsheets as cognitive tools remains speculative. Research on the cognitive outcomes from using spreadsheets is needed before we can conclude that they can function as generalizable cognitive tools.