Collaborative Proposal: Maplets for Calculus

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Mathematical Sciences (21) This project is creating a suite of maplets - Java applets with full access to the Maple computer algebra system - for use in calculus courses. Each maplet presents algorithmically generated problems via a graphical user interface and utilizes Maple's symbolic computation engine to analytically check student responses and to generate appropriate feedback. The intellectual merit of the project lies in the pedagogical improvement this approach offers over existing online homework systems that have had to rely on extensive use of multiple-choice questions. Maplets for Calculus goes beyond this by being able to check and provide feedback at intermediate steps along the way towards a solution. Users may also input specific problems and generate 2-D and 3-D graphics and animations in real-time. A record of student performance is also available and students may also access other web-based instructional content from within the maplet. The project's broader impacts are found in the 24/7 availability of the computer-based teaching tools and the capability of offering as much practice to students as is needed to master a topic. The web-based nature of the tool also enables its use from widespread and/or remote locations. In addition, the summary usage information for each student enables teachers to better identify problematic topics and to deal with these accordingly.