Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

It's Fun, But Is It Science? Goals And Strategies In A Problem-Based Learning Course, M. S. Bruno, C. D. Jarvis

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

All students at Hampshire College must complete a science requirement in which they demonstrate their understanding of how science is done, examine the work of science in larger contexts, and communicate their ideas effectively. Human Biology: Selected Topics in Medicine is one of 18-20 freshman seminars designed to move students toward completing this requirement. Students work in cooperative groups of 4-6 people to solve actual medical cases about which they receive information progressively. Students assign themselves homework tasks to bring information back for group deliberation. The goal is for case teams to work cooperatively to develop a differential diagnosis and …

The Impact Of A National Science Foundation Collaborative For Excellence In Teacher Preparation On An Undergraduate Chemistry Course For Non-Chemistry Science Majors, J. Tyson

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

In 1999 and 2000 Chemistry 312: Analytical Chemistry for non-chemistry science majors (taken in the junior or senior year), was revised as a result of the instructor’s involvements in the Center for Excellence in Teacher Preparation project and an NSF equipment grant. Changes included the introduction of a K-12 teaching requirement, more emphasis on co-operative learning and on inquiry-based exercises. These latter two pedagogical practices had more impact on the laboratory activities than on the classroom activities. Students in the laboratory were assigned defined roles in the groups and all groups undertook a three-week research project. Students’ responses to the …

Integration Of Multimedia Interactive Web Tools With In-Class Active Learning, A. Ganz, K. Wongthavarawat, A. Phonphoem

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

In this paper, we present our experience with an introduction to engineering course in which we used a combination of active and collaborative teaching methods, multimedia web-based material, and web-based interactive tools. The students were engaged in active learning in class with methods such as demonstrations, hands-on work, and group work. After class, the students used the web-based material that we developed, such as multiple choice quizzes, interactive applets, and animations. We have also developed a number of web-based course management tools that were used by the course instructors. We conclude that both the students and instructors had a very …

The Thayer Method: Student Active Learning With Positive Results, E. Connors

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

Graduation from West Point requires successful completion of four courses in the mathematical sciences. These core mathematics courses include topics in discrete dynamical systems, differential and integral calculus (single variable and multivariable), differential equations, linear algebra, probability, and statistics. The instructional system employed throughout the core is the "Thayer Method," named for Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, "the Father of the Military Academy." In the Thayer Method, traces of cooperative education and "discovery learning" are evident. It is quintessential active learning. The West Point catalyst is the fundamental principle that cadets are responsible for their own education.

Teaching Innovations In An Introductory Physics Course For Non-Science Majors, W. J. Mullin

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

I have made several innovations to Physics 114: Physics of Sound, a course for Communication Disorders and General Education students at the University of Massachusetts. These changes include the use of a network of wireless communication devices called a Personal Response System, on-line tutorials and classnotes, a collaborative discussion section, exam corrections, microthemes, extra-credit papers, group extra-credit projects, and the use of student teaching assistants.

Experiences And Thoughts On Stemtec-Inspired Changes In Teaching Physics For Life Science Majors, M. S. Z. Rabin

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

I have taught an introductory course for life science majors three times, each time introducing one or more teaching techniques discussed during the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Teaching Education Collaborative (STEMTEC) meetings. Typical class size was 275 students. I cannot make quantitative statements about comparisons between the results of STEMTEC-type teaching methods and traditional teaching methods because I have never taught this course in a completely traditional lecture style. During the first year, I introduced conceptual questions into my lectures. The lecture would be interrupted several times with questions posed to the class. The students then had several minutes …

Shaping Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes: An Inquiry Approach To Course Reform, M. F. Neathery, B. Campbell, J. Chandler

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

The purpose of the study was to investigate the development of pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward teaching science with inquiry methods as the result of their participation in the two-hour elementary science methods class. Southwestern Oklahoma State University is a partner in the Oklahoma Teacher Education Collaborative (OTEC) which is funded by the National Science Foundation’s reform effort, Collaboratives for Excellence in Teacher Preparation (CETP). The reform effort focuses on the revision of the teacher preparation courses with emphasis on a systemic change in the method in which math, science, and education methods courses are taught across Oklahoma. Nine Oklahoma universities, …

The Impact Of A Summer Workshop: Staff Orientation At Mesa Community College, D. Sawada, J. Turley

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

The Arizona Collaborative for Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers (ACEPT) is a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project to reform teacher preparation in Arizona. One of the major modes for initiating both collaboration and reform between and among university and community college staff has been the Summer Faculty Enhancement Workshops developed and offered by ACEPT co-principal investigators each summer since 1996. The summer of 1999 featured five workshops, one of which was the Geology Summer Workshop which brought participants into close contact with eighteen reformed practices appropriate for large lecture style classes. One of the nineteen participants was Ray …

Aims & Scope

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

A Response To Dancis, Margaret Schaffer

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Another Response To Dancis, Ted Eisenberg

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Evaluation In The Mathematics Classroom, Emam Hoosain, B. Naraine

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

What Else Do We Forget To Tell Our Teachers?: A Response To Dancis, Stephen Sproule

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Geosciences Newsletter- 1999, Department Of Geosciences

Geological and Environmental Sciences News

Vol.1, No. 24

• Dear Alumni and Friends
• Faculty News
• Graduate Student News
• Student News
• Alumni News
• Donations

Nsu Continuing Education Catalog Fall 1999: Courses, Seminars, Workshops, And Conferences, Nova Southeastern University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

Earth News, Fall 1999, Department Of Earth Science, University Of Northern Iowa.

Earth News

Inside this issue:

--- Earth Science Staff Activities
--- Faculty Research, Publications, and Recognition
--- Profile: Wayne Anderson
--- PRISMS Helps Physic Students "See"
--- UNI Meteorology Students "Chase" Tornadoes in Des Moines
--- Technology Takes classes, teachers into the Next Millenium
--- Gifts to the Department of Earth Science
--- Volcanology Students Study Volcanoes in Italy, Sicily and the Aeolian Islands
--- Spring Trip 2000
--- Gifts to the Department of Earth Science
--- 1999-2000 Scholarship and Award Recipients
--- Earth Science Seminar Series
--- 1999 Earth Science Graduates
--- Student Research Presentations
--- Earth Science Majors
--- Alumni …

Is Mathematics Education Taking A Step Backward?, Frances Kuwahara Lang

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

This article addresses the current political, socioeconomic, and educational state of mathematics education in California. The “back-to-basics” movement in mathematics mirrors the “back-to-phonics” movement in language arts. At a time when ethnic minorities have become the majority, the dominant culture has chosen to revert back to practices that are inequitable and empower the elite. Critical educators must carry on the dialogue necessary to empower the disenfranchised mathematically and undermine the social injustice and economic inequality that will result if this movement is embraced.

Research Papers In A Math Methods Course: A Window Into The Life Of Ramanujan, John Grant Mcloughlin

Humanistic Mathematics Network Journal

No abstract provided.

Tracking The Trochoid On Safari, Andrew Simoson

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1999

While on sabbatical in Dar es Salaam in 1997–98, I was tasked to be the department’s seminar director and discovered that a dearth of speakers roam about in east Africa; so I opted to set up a lecture tour for myself to include Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Botswana as well as Tanzania—and spoke about the envelope of curves generated by a series of line segments obtained when two runners attached by an ideal bungee cord (the line segments) proceed about a circular track. Herein we describe life in east Africa and show that those envelopes are trochoids.

Revolutions In Mathematics (Book Review), Kevin Vander Meulen

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1999

A review of Revolutions in Mathematics, edited by Donald Gillies, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1992.

Lewis Carroll: Author, Mathematician, And Christian, David L. Neuhouser

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1999

Although a Christian, an author, and a mathematician, Charles Letwidge Dodgson (better known as Lewis Carroll) wrote very few works in which these three aspects of his person was present. The only examples of him merging these interests are in Sylvie and Bruno and Sylvie and Bruno Concluded. This paper will explore what motivated him to make these works and whether or not they were successful.

The Deconstruction Of Mathematics, David J. Stucki

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1999

This paper is a criticism of Reuben Hersh's What is Mathematics, Really? and the humanist philosophy of mathematics.

Book Review, David J. Stucki

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1999

A book review of Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals' Abuse of Science by Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont.

Book Review: Virtual Gods: The Seduction Of Power And Pleasure In Cyberspace, Jonathan R. Senning

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1999

This paper is a review of Virtual Gods: The Seduction of Power and Pleasure in Cyberspace, edited by Tal Brooke, Harvest House Publishers, 1997.

Teaching Linear Algebra And Abstract Algebra With Two Way Video And Audio, Edward Reinke

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1999

An outline of a presentation discussing teaching two different algebra courses long-distance as well as in a classroom.

A Mathematician At The Science And Theology Book Club, Greg Crow

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1999

This paper is a case study of the insights gained and the contributions made in a weekly Science and Theology Faculty Book Club. The contribution of other group members to the expansion of one’s general understanding of their fields is demonstrated in increased vocabulary, use of existing theoretical models, glimpses of the depth of their disciplines, and in the recognition of the need for humility. The mathematician may contribute by helping to clarify definitions, by applying basic ideas in their own and related fields, and only very rarely by bringing their own research to the table.

Book Review - The Language Of Mathematics: Making The Invisible Visible By Kieth Devlin, Charles R. Hampton

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1999

Charles R. Hampton reviews The Language of Mathematics: Making the Invisible Visible. By Kieth Devlin. W. H. Freeman and Company, 1998

Determinism, Chaos, And The Meaning Of Randomness, Or Quantum Theory And The Sovereignty Of God, John Wicks

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1999

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Number Sense: How The Mind Creates Mathematics By Stanislas Dehaene, Mary Vanderschoot

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1999

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Philosophy Of Mathematics By W.S. Anglin, Richard D. Rockwell

ACMS Conference Proceedings 1999

No abstract provided.