Interactive Mathematics Classroom

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The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science is establishing an Interactive Mathematics Classroom, containing 16 student workstations and one teacher workstation/file server, all Macintosh Quadra 700s. The goal of the project is to have students use the current generation of mathematical software to gain mathematical intuition and to apply mathematical theory to realistic problems. The Classroom is enabling students to experiment with examples in ways that are not possible with the traditional pencil-and-paper approach and, in addition, is allowing those who are being trained as teachers to gain needed hands-on exposure to mathematical software. A unique feature of the Classroom is the network software, featuring screen sharing as well as file and resource sharing. This permits automated interaction between instructor and students and high quality access to mathematical software including Mathematica and MATLAB. The first classes to use the Interactive Mathematics Classroom are those designed for prospective K-8 teachers, covering number systems, geometry, and functions. In the second year of the project, the classroom will be used to augment standard mathematics instruction in linear algebra, differential equations, number theory, geometry, and linear optimization.