NSF Award
9452421
9452421 Chell The faculty in the Department of Mathematics at Carthage College are enhancing the instruction in two entry-level mathematics offerings with the addition of a collaborative learning/Macintosh laboratory. Classes in the Calculus I-II sequence and the general education Applied Mathematics course are held in the laboratory so that combined approaches to solving mathematical problems may be used. The course materials call for simultaneously incorporating collaborative methods, applying them to reality-based problems, and using technological means for solution. The lab is available to student use outside of the classtime for working on assigned team projects. The Applied Mathematics course uses the Annenberg project For All Practical Purposes text. The laboratory facilities allow the addition of: a statistics package and analysis of large data sets, team projects which use technology to analyze the results of students' own data collections, a geometry and a drawing package to create and analyze symmetry and repeated patterns, and a spreadsheet for the conjecture and analysis of growth functions. In addition to the syllabus additions, the collaboration experience gives students the opportunity to take ownership of their mathematics through group discussion and debate. The Calculus courses are enhanced by the natural incorporation of symbolic computing as a daily activity of the students in the course. The collaboration experience has the same goals as in the Applied Mathematics course and, in addition, it allows students to learn the syntax of the technology more efficiently than by individual pursuit. Team projects follow the form of several successful pilot projects, including: designing a space capsule with certain flotation properties; finding the effect of putting a spin on a volleyball serve; determining schedules of dosages for medicine; and analyzing the movement of recording tape over a tape hea d. The laboratory/classroom is designed with careful attention to the learning process.
