Conference Session

Engineering and Math Potpouri

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bertram Pariser, Technical Career Institute, Inc.; Cyrus Meherji, Technical Career Institute, Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

AC 2008-1657: VIDEO LECTURE ON THE PYTHAGOREAN THEORYBertram Pariser, Technical Career Institute, Inc.Cyrus Meherji, Technical Career Institute, Inc. Page 13.1383.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2008 Video Lecture on PYTHAGOREAN THEORYAbstractPythagoras derived the famous equation a2 +b2 =c2. This discovery enabled the Greeks tobuild the Acropolis and the Parthenon. This equation is probably the most famous equation inmathematics. There are hundreds of proofs to the Pythagorean Theorem in mathematical literature.My derivation of "A GEOMETRICAL PROOF OF PYTHAGORAS’ THEOREM" 1 is difficult for ourstudents to understand. Students, who use the video

Conference Session

Innovative Instructional Strategies

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Taskin Padir, Lake Superior State University; Kimberly O. Muller, Lake Superior State University; Collette Coullard, Lake Superior State University

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

methods for solvingdifferential equations. The paper will exemplify the student work and discuss the effectiveness ofour methodology.IntroductionTeaching mathematics in a classroom filled with students from various science and engineeringmajors poses challenges to the instructor. It seems that even though the students appreciate theimportance of studying mathematics for their professional careers, they don’t show the samelevels of interest. Many students view the mathematics courses as part of their degreerequirements only and perform with low levels of motivation in the classroom. The instructor’schallenge then becomes to build the bridge from the abstract mathematical concepts to practicalapplications of the theory. The key to success is to

Conference Session

The Use of Computers in Teaching Mathematics

Collection

2008 Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jayathi Raghavan, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach; Leslie Sena, Bethune Cookman College; Hong Liu, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach; David Bethelmy, Bethune Cookman College

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

) motivating students in the applications of themathematical concepts that reflect realistic problems in their prospective engineering careers, 2)integrating these complicated applications into the tight schedule of engineering courses, 3)leveraging the overwhelming complexity so that the students are not intimidated, and 4)compensating for the lack of physical models required in most engineering applications Theauthors considered these challenges in the development of modules and agreed that a frameworkfor module development was required. The authors began preliminary research to develop sucha framework centered on the concept of abstraction.The authors began by exploring resources developed by other colleagues, reviewing the existingdigital library