The Integration of Symbolic Manipulation Programs into Calculus

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The Mathematics Department at St. Olaf College will integrate symbolic, numerical, and graphical computing tools into its elementary calculus course. Department faculty will cooperate in teaching the first offerings of the revised courses, and in preparing and improving course materials appropriate to this goal. Grant money will be used to equip a symbolic computation laboratory, running SMP on nine graphics-capable terminals. These consist of a SUN 3/160M-4 central mode, two SUN 3/75-4 stations, and six Heath/Zenith computers with high-resolution graphics boards. The laboratory will be used by elementary calculus students to complete assignments designed to exploit a powerful, interactive symbolic computation program. By handling some of the routine operations, symbolic manipulation programs can allow students to see ideas beyond the computations of calculus. With the computing power to support treatment of discrete and numerical (as well as continuous) ideas, calculus instruction gives a truer picture of its subject, highlights calculus ideas, and makes more of calculus' power available to students.