KINGSTON, R.I. — March 31, 1999 — Three 溏心vlog免费B站 mathematicians are part of the revolution that is radically changing the way math is being taught, and they aren鈥檛 hearing math anxiety complaints from their troops鈥攖he students.
In fact, 溏心vlog免费B站 Professors Dean Clark of Westerly, Barbara Kaskosz of Wakefield, and Lewis Pakula of the East Side of Providence are helping to lead the charge. Their 鈥渨eapon鈥� is the Internet.
The three are incorporating powerful mathematical software packages, Maple and Mathview, into the curriculum. Using this software, the three faculty members have written course programs that illuminate what math means and how it can be applied.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 find stuff like this at other Internet sites. It鈥檚 unique to 溏心vlog免费B站,鈥� says Clark who has searched other colleges鈥� math Web pages and found nothing comparable.
鈥淭he Internet is a new tool,鈥� says Kaskosz 鈥渂ut there is a tendency to do the same old thing. We鈥檙e using Maple in a more creative and accessible way. It gives students more insight into what the problems mean.鈥�
Pakula agrees, noting that technology is changing math and science instruction. Software is rivaling textbooks. Now even the most complex calculations whose algebraic and graphical difficulties were once considered too great to be done 鈥渂y hand鈥� can be completed by computer software within seconds. 鈥淲e can present more sophisticated problems and concentrate on the bigger picture,鈥� he says.
The problems in Clark鈥檚 course are genuinely puzzling. An avid puzzle enthusiast and graphic designer, Clark has developed an interactive Web site (www.uri.edu/artsci/mth/w108) that is colorful, clever and, well, fun. Using the commercial MathView software, Clark created the interactive designs while his undergraduate assistant Mike Smith built the site. (See sidebar story on Smith.)
The site challenges students to do such tasks as design a slot machine, figure out card shuffling tricks, and open a diabolical combination lock. 鈥淭he students are using analytical skills with symbolic algebra,鈥� says Clark who teaches Math 108, a general education course designed for students who have no specialized knowledge of math.
On the other hand, Barbara Kaskosz and Lewis Pakula use Maple, a research-level program, to design a series of interactive worksheets for calculus. Worksheets can be downloaded via the Internet from the Mathematics Department鈥檚 Web site. Maple, with its great facilities for graphics and visualization, enlivens the courses and prepares the students for the new educational and workplace conditions in this era of rapid technological change. So far, nearly 600 calculus students have participated in the project.
The three professors say the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
鈥淭he students know they need to know the technology. It鈥檚 a new world and they have to keep pace,鈥� says Pakula. 鈥淏esides, many of our undergraduate students already have been using computers for 10 years or more. They鈥檙e comfortable at the computer keyboard.鈥�
溏心vlog免费B站鈥檚 Mathematics Department Web site address is www.math.uri.edu.
For More Information: Dean Clark, 874-4457
Barbara Kaskosz, 874-4445
Lewis Pakula, 874-4436
Jan Sawyer, 874-2116
