Discovering Calculus Through Computer Investigation

通过更加重视来改进微积分教学 在概念理解上，伊丽莎白敦学院是 结合使用计算机代数系统DERIVE 变成微积分序列。 转移计算负担 让学生更专注于学习 思想和培养更好奇的态度， 数学 学生们一年两次在计算机实验室开会。 一周的工作，通过实验室的问题，旨在教学， 说明并强化微积分的概念。 在 此外，他们每周在实验室开会一次， 小组解决问题，涉及应用他们 已经学会了。 每周第四节课用于上课 讨论和小组介绍。 配套实验室 手册，这是正在编写，将感兴趣的其他 机构考虑使用计算机代数系统作为一个 微积分教学中的工具。 最初， 课程同时进行，一个与实验室和一个 没有，以便进行比较研究， 确定新的课程结构是否以及在多大程度上 是一种进步。

To improve calculus instruction by placing a greater emphasis on conceptual understanding, Elizabethtown College is incorporating the use of the computer algebra system DERIVE into its calculus sequence. Shifting the burden of computation to DERIVE allows students to concentrate more fully on learning ideas and fosters a more inquisitive attitude towards mathematics. Students meet in the computer laboratory twice a week to work through laboratory problems designed to teach, illustrate, and reinforce the concepts of calculus. In addition once a week, they meet in the laboratory to work in groups solving problems involving applications of what they have learned. The fourth weekly class is used for class discussion and group presentations. An accompanying laboratory manual, which is being written, will be of interest to other institutions thinking of using a computer algebra system as a tool in calculus instruction. Initially, two sections of the courses are running concurrently, one with laboratories and one without, so that a comparative study can be developed to determine whether and to what extent the new course structure is an improvement.