Revitalizing Undergraduate Number Theory

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This project is the developing and implementing (at Michigan Technological University and Arizona State University) course materials for an improved undergraduate number theory course. This new course incorporates many of the ideas and innovations that have been successfully employed in earlier mathematics education reform projects. New features to be integrated into the course are: the use of guided discovery as the primary mode of student learning; the use of Mathematica to facilitate numerical experimentation; collaboration between students to work on forming and investigating conjectures; a diminished emphasis on lectures; and, student lab reports detailing results that have been obtained. The target audience for the proposed course is preservice secondary mathematics teachers, who comprise the majority of students in the course. During the first year of the project, all materials for the proposed course will be prepared: pre-lab worksheets and homework assignments; Mathematica notebooks; documents to be distributed to students that describe the nature of the course and expectations for lab reports; and, an instructor's guide to assist in implementation at other sites. All materials will be free and available to interested parties via anonymous ftp.