USING COMPUTERS TO VISUALIZE MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. We utilize computers at the RBVI Resource to give high school students insights into mathematical ideas. Computer graphics provide students unique ways to visualize and manipulate mathematical objects (e.g., graphs and geometric objects). Computer graphics also presents wonderful motivation for exploring mathematical ideas. The real-time manipulation facilities of MidasPlus and Chimera offers incentives to young students to study matrix representations of coordinate transformations. One student, in particular, has excelled at this method of learning to the point that he has now been employed by the RBVI Resource each of the past three summers as a student doing advanced computer programming.