A New Approach to College Algebra and Precalculus

大学代数和初级微积分的新方法

• 批准号: 9952821
• 负责人: Davida Fischman
• 金额: $ 17.5万
• 依托单位: University Enterprises Corporation at CSUSB
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-03-01 至 2004-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9952821&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: New; Approach; College; Algebra; Precalculus

Mathematical Sciences (21)This project at California State University - San Bernardino (CSUB) is addressing low retention and success rates often encountered in lower division mathematics courses typically labeled College Algebra and/or Pre-calculus. Both science and non-science majors enroll in such courses, with some students seeking to satisfy General Education requirements and others pursuing major requirements. To confront this mix of backgrounds and goals, courses are being restructured in two ways. First, the introduction of projects applicable to the students' major is helping students see the relevance of the material and encouraging them to write about mathematics. Second, the use of a prototype software package allows the instructor flexibility in terms of class structure and involves the student as an active participant. Using HTML, Java and JavaScript, the software application offers information, demonstrations and exercises that cover the topics in an engaging manner. The software use ranges from simply supplying follow-along examples, to individualized concentration on particular areas. Its flexibility permits it to either accompany a text or become the primary source of course material. The package can be offered through a WWW server or run on individual machines using only a web browser. A small computer software package for the College Algebra course has already been created and tested. Class use of this software indicates increased retention rates among students. In this project the current package is being polished, as well as expanded, and topics from Pre-calculus are being added. The resulting software is forming a cohesive unit that can be easily adapted by other institutions. Evaluation efforts include measuring students' attitudes towards mathematics and its relevance both in the restructured sections as well as traditionally taught sections. The software package is being tested both here and at other sites, not only for factual information and appropriateness of exercises, but also for a measure of the student learning and instructor reaction to this mode of presentation. Finally, retention and success rates are being compared across different institutions.

数学科学（21）这个项目在加州州立大学-圣贝纳迪诺（Coconut）是解决低保留率和成功率经常遇到的低司数学课程通常标记为大学代数和/或微积分。科学和非科学专业的学生都参加了这些课程，一些学生寻求满足通识教育的要求，另一些学生则追求专业要求。为了应对这种背景和目标的混合，课程正在以两种方式进行重组。首先，引入适用于学生专业的项目，帮助学生看到材料的相关性，并鼓励他们写关于数学的文章。其次，原型软件包的使用允许教师在课堂结构方面具有灵活性，并让学生成为积极的参与者。该软件应用程序使用HTML、Java和JavaScript，以引人入胜的方式提供涵盖主题的信息、演示和练习。软件的使用范围从简单地提供后续的例子，到个性化的集中在特定领域。它的灵活性允许它要么伴随着一个文本或成为课程材料的主要来源。该软件包可以通过WWW服务器提供，也可以仅使用Web浏览器在单独的机器上运行。用于大学代数课程的小型计算机软件包已经创建并测试。课堂使用该软件表明学生的保留率增加。在这个项目中，当前的包正在被完善和扩展，并且正在添加Pre-calculus的主题。由此产生的软件正在形成一个有凝聚力的单元，可以很容易地被其他机构采用。评估工作包括衡量学生对数学的态度及其在重组部分和传统教学部分的相关性。该软件包正在这里和其他地点进行测试，不仅是为了获得事实信息和练习的适当性，而且是为了衡量学生的学习情况和教师对这种演示模式的反应。最后，正在比较不同机构的保留率和成功率。