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Abstracts for Session 5

Friday, 1:45 p.m.

5A. Using the TI-83 and TI-86 in Teaching College Algebra , Mingjun Yang, Belton High School, Belton, MO [45 min.]
Since we have an eighty-five minute class period at high school every day, we use calculators to help students to make comparisons and contrast between different graphs after they have learned the math concepts. We use calculators to graph polynomial functions, approximate real zeros, exponential and logarithmic functions, systems of linear equations and augmented matrices, and binomial distributions. I am going to focus on two or three of the above topics, and give out handouts on the rest of the topics, which can be used in aiding the classroom teaching.

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5B. WORKSHOP: Mathematical Activities Using Java [90 min.] , Joe Yanik and Chuck Pheatt, Emporia State University, Emporia, KS
This workshop will demonstrate activities created during an NSF-funded workshop held on the Emporia State University campus in the summer of 2000. There will also be a brief demonstration of some of the tools developed for the workshop. Courses Targeted: Calculus, College and high school algebra.
Students' Expertise: Little.
Audience's Expertise: Little.
(mathcsjava.emporia.edu)

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5C. WORKSHOP: Connect Your Students to Mathematics Through the World Wide Web [90 min.] , Julane Crabtree, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS
This interactive session will give you ideas to connect your students to mathematics through the World Wide Web. Learn how students in Basic Math, Elementary Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, College Algebra, Trigonometry, and Business Calculus use the web to further their understanding of mathematics and to interact with each other and the instructor. Sample assignments will include WebQuests, study questions, discussion questions, drill and practice, and the use of a listserve (among others). Participants will have the opportunity to begin the development of a web assignment for use in their classes.
(www.jccc.net/~jcrabtre)

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5D. Distance Delivery of Calculus Courses in Alaska Via Internet, Whiteboard, and Audio-Conferencing , Ron Palcic, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS [45 min.]
This talk will focus on the presenter's experiences in teaching mathematics in a distance delivery mode in Alaska, where his students were spread out all over the state. The technology available for distance learning when he first arrived in Alaska was very primitive - just audio conferencing via an 800 number. It was obvious to him that Calculus could not be taught in this manner, but he had been asked to do so. It was important to minimize cost and not re-invent the wheel. So, the presenter began to use NetMeeting, a free product from Microsoft, in conjunction with the audio-conferencing already available. (Though primitive, the phone line provided for voice interaction between the instructor and the students.) He will also share other software - some free, some not - that he used as he taught Calculus I and II with this use of technology. A server at the main campus of the University of Alaska - Fairbanks was used. He will discuss his unique experiences in teaching in a remote area where he never met the majority of his students face-to-face, though he could recognize their voices. He'll share joys, frustrations and glitches, time involved on his part, how these students compared with students in the traditional classroom, and many other things he learned along the way as he implemented this system.
Staff.jccc.net/rpalcic

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5E. Geometric Discoveries Via the Geometer's Sketchpad [90 min.] , J. Wendell Wyatt, Northeastern State University, Tahlequah, OK
Participants will use the GSP to construct polygons and circles and utilize the dynamic feature of the software to examine geometric relationships as students would make the discoveries for the first time. Selected theorems and problems from geometry not usually found in high school texts will be constructed and verified. Some capabilities of the GSP will be demonstrated in the construction of the conics and animated constructions. Participants will be invited to interact and share both technical knowledge and pedagogical insights. Those who have begun to use the GSP should discover more of its technical features, gain new ideas for utilizing it to enhance student learning, and take home new ideas ready for use in their classroom.

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