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. Primary support for the subproject and the subproject's principal investigator may have been provided by other sources, including other NIH sources. The Total Cost listed for the subproject likely represents the estimated amount of Center infrastructure utilized by the subproject, not direct funding provided by the NCRR grant to the subproject or subproject staff. 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 was employed by the RBVI Resource each of three summers as a student doing advanced computer programming.