SBIR Phase II: The Mathematician's Sketchpad

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*** 9623018 Finzer This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project from Key Curriculum Press leverages recent understanding of dynamic geometry and new power of machines to a second generation of dynamic geometry software--The Mathematician's Sketchpad--with much greater ease of use, improved integration with other areas of mathematics and science, and new conceptual and visual metaphors for building dynamic mathematical models. The starting point for the project is The Geometer's Sketchpad, one of the most highly regarded and commercially successful software systems presently available in the United States. From dynamic geometry mixed with symbolic algebra and graphing comes dynamic algebra which will allow students, teachers, and authors to create Sketchbooks based on user-specified sets of tools. This new technology combined with classroom materials will fundamentally change how teachers and students learn and do mathematics. The commercial success of The Geometer's Sketchpad demonstrates the commercial potential of the Mathematician's Sketchpad. The new program will have even more utility for the geometry classroom than the current generation of The Geometer's Sketchpad and, if our research is successful, will have ready application throughout the secondary and college mathematics curriculum. The enthusiastic response of teachers to prototypes of both software and curriculum materials produced during Phase I indicates that there will be high level of teacher support. The curriculum materials to be developed during the project provide another proven avenue of commercial sustainability for the eventual products of the proposed research. ***