Group Discovery and Communications: A Computer Lab Approachto Lower Division Mathematics

本课题的前提是数学知识是通过研究、综合、实践和教学来获得的。为了有效地实现这一信念，布法罗州立学院的数学系正在创建一个基于计算机的数学实验室，教师和学生团体可以在这里做数学。我们分配团队“发现”项目，以补充课程作业，强调这些项目的书面和口头报告。这个项目正在影响大量的数学/中等教育专业的学生，以及其他参加这些数学课程的学生。实验室的设计考虑到了NCTM课程和评价标准。这些未来的老师正在学习数学，因为人们希望他们以后会教数学。学生和教授也用电脑做课堂演示，这些演示将提供给学生在实验室自己观看。最后，实验室作为一个指导中心，部分由年轻而热情的数学俱乐部成员进行，这是我们数学系的一个活跃部分。实验室由20台麦金塔ii型电脑、一台激光后记打印机和一台带有投影仪接口的笔记本组成。主要软件包有Mathematica、APL和TEX。课件《矩阵代数》和《塔斯基的世界》也被使用。他们通过让学生在计算机实验室环境中“实地”体验，为他们的核心课程做了实质性的补充。学生积极参与学习，并有机会探索新概念，收集和综合在数学实验室获得的数据，然后形式化并向全班展示他们的发现。

This project is based on the premise that mathematical knowledge is acquired through research, synthesis, practice and teaching. To effectively implement this belief, the mathematics department at Buffalo State College is creating a computer based Math Lab where faculty and student groups can do mathematics. We are assigning team "discovery" projects which complement the coursework, emphasizing the written and oral presentation of these projects. This project is impacting a large number of mathematics/secondary education majors in addition to other students taking these mathematics courses. Laboratories are being designed with the NCTM Curriculum and Evaluation Standards in mind. These future teachers are learning mathematics as it is hoped they will later teach.Students and professors also use computers to do classroom demonstrations, which will be made available to students to view on their own in the lab. Finally, the lab is serving as a tutorial center conducted in part by the young and enthusiastic members of the math club, which is an active part of our math department.The laboratory consists of 20 Macintosh IIci computers, one laser postscript printer, and a powerbook with an overhead projector interface. The primary software packages are Mathematica, APL, and TEX. The courseware Matrix Algebra and Tarski's World are also used.They are making a substantive addition to their core courses by giving students "field" experience in a computer lab setting. Students are being actively involved in learning, and have the opportunity to explore new concepts, to collect and synthesize data obtained in the Math Lab, and then formalize and present their discoveries to the class.