June 91 - Mathematics Computing at the University of Arizona
Mathematics Computing at the University of Arizona
Dale Curtis
INTRODUCING ACADEMIC DEVELOPERS
While developing educational software in a university setting, I found it difficult to
discover what others were doing with object programming technologies, even at my
own institution. I thought there might be other developers in a similar situation; so, I
suggested to the MADA Board that we have an education column in FrameWorks, to
allow developers at educational institutions who have object programming projects to
find out what is happening elsewhere.
You know what happens to people who make suggestions: here I am! My hope is that
those of us with similar interests will use the Academic Developers column to contact
and assist each other, and find out about software targeted at the university level. I'll
lead off with a synopsis of activities at my site.
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT
The Mathematics Department at the University of Arizona is involved with the
education of over 14,000 students per semester. Of these, approximately 4,000
students per semester are in our two-year calculus sequence for science and
engineering students: Calculus I, II, III, Ordinary Differential Equations, and Linear
Algebra. We are in the process of remodelling this program so it will use computer
technology for instructional purposes. The goal is to create an environment where the
student:
• Becomes comfortable using computers to explore, calculate, review, and
to promote self learning.
• Is challenged to think independently and to tackle a variety of problems
which, because they are new to the student, do not have the artificial flavor of
the overworked examples in present texts.
We've identified five non-traditional ways of using computers for instructional
purposes:
• To aid the instructor during class with slide shows, a collection of screen
images of functions that are difficult to draw on the board; simulations, a
collection of programs that simulate mathematical concepts that are
otherwise difficult to perform in class; and demonstrations, which let the
instructor present lengthy, but elementary, step-by-step calculations in
class without the distraction of algebraic errors or loss of continuity due to
time delay.
• To aid students. The software can deal with complex calculations and aid in
the development of mathematical intuition through support for graphical
displays.
• To encourage students to treat mathematics as an experimental subject.
Students can change the values of variables and coefficients, alter equations,
and see the effects numerically and graphically.
• To capture the excitement of current developments in mathematics. For
example, chaos in calculus, fractals in linear algebra, and modelling AIDS in
ordinary differential equations.
• To aid instructors and students during lectures and examinations. Since
October 1989, our fully computerized classroom has drastically changed the
way we teach, the problems we assign, and the way we test.
We have 35 packages to support these approaches. They were developed by students,
working with faculty, within the context of a 3 credit hour semester course in math
software development. The students were primarily math or engineering students who
knew how to program in C.
Because the students had a time limitation, and were focusing on mathematics rather
than programming, the packages were initially developed under MS-DOS. But in
February, the mathematics department hired a full-time staff member (me)
to-among other things-set up a development lab to include both IBM compatibles and
Macintoshes.
INTRODUCING STUDENTS TO THE MACINTOSH
So, what is the best way to introduce students to developing on the Macintosh? We are
working on that. For use by student and faculty developers, we have acquired the three
Apple Developer University Self-Paced Training modules, plus AppMaker, MacApp,
C++, and Think C. We have developed a prototype framework for several programs and
are creating IBM-compatible display fonts so we can use the data files that drive the
programs on both platforms.
Our experience in building this framework in Think C 2.0 using only Inside Macintosh
Volumes I-III, without recourse to tools like MacApp, convinced us of the value of
object programming! We anticipate using object programming technologies in
rewriting the prototype and constructing another framework for a second set of
programs, porting at least the C code that does the mathematics itself into Mac
applications.
You might ask why we bother to develop on two platforms. The software we have
developed is in the public domain so every student and educational institution can
benefit from it, and availability on the two most popular platforms is important to
widespread distribution. In the last six months, we have had requests for over 2,500
disks from universities and colleges throughout the country. The "Are You Ready
series of programs has generated requests from over 1000 academic institutions in
Australia, Canada, Cyprus, England, France, Malta, New Zealand, Scotland, Wales, and
the United States. Anyone interested in the software can contact me at the address
appearing at the start of this column.
CALL FOR GUEST COLUMNISTS
In future columns, I plan to report on personal experience with development tools,
software or development efforts that you let me know about, and relevant meetings or
training opportunities. (Anybody want to send me to MacWorld in Boston?) I definitely
want to use Academic Developers to showcase projects from other academic sites, so
articles by guest columnists are very welcome. Please let me know what you want to
see. Don't be bashful-see you here next issue!