Conference Session

The Transition from Secondary to College Mathematics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Sabina Jeschke, RWTH Aachen University; Olivier Frédéric Pfeiffer, Technische Universität Berlin; Omar Musa Hasan, American University of Mdaba; Erhard Zorn, Technische Universität Berlin

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

. Kato, O. Pfeiffer, E. Zorn, Pre-Freshmen Students Gearing up with Early Bird, Proceedings of the 2009 ASEE Annual Conference, ASEE6 http://www3.math.tu-berlin.de/OMB/7 https://www.tu9.de/8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux9 A. Heck: Introduction to Maple, 3rd ed., 2003, Springer, New York.10 Maple User Manual, Maplesoft, a division of Maple Waterloo Inc., 2011, www.maplesoft.com.11 L. Bernardin, P. Chin, P. DeMarco, K. O. Geddes, D. E. G. Hare, K. M. Heal, G. Labahn, J. P. May, J. McCarron, M. B. Monagan, D. Ohashi, S. M. Vorkoetter, Maple Programming Guide, Maplesoft, a division of Maple Waterloo Inc., 2011, www.maplesoft.com.12 D. E. Knuth, Computers & Typesetting, Volume A: The TeXbook, 1986, Addison

Conference Session

The Transition from Secondary to College Mathematics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Galen E. Turner III, Louisiana Tech University; Kelly B. Crittenden, Louisiana Tech University; James D. Nelson, Louisiana Tech University; Heath Tims, Louisiana Tech University

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

Ftotal = k f 2We find empirically that k ranges between 6 and 9 for the College of Engineering and Science atLouisiana Tech university for each year starting in 2000. Figure 1. shows the f-index for 2007-08, here k =6. Page 25.165.3 f-index for 2007-08 14 12Number of Students 10 8 6 4 2 0 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Conference Session

Techniques in Improving Mathematics Education in STEM Curricula

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yonghui Wang, Prairie View A&M University; Jian-ao Lian, Prairie View A&M University; Yonggao Yang, Prairie View A&M University

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

selected, an almostidentical window will be displayed, with the same 4 topics for users to choose. (a) Page 25.825.7 (b) Figure 4: Starting of the programIn the tutorial scene, if topic “Properties of Graphs” is chosen, first a window as shown in Fig. 5awill be seen. Here the users can learn how to find asymptotes and how to graph rationalfunctions. By clicking the “next” button, the module will randomly generate a rational function,graph it, and display the asymptotes, as shown in Fig. 5b. The same procedure applies to

Conference Session

Techniques in Improving Mathematics Education in STEM Curricula

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Erin Shaw, University of Southern California; Zachary Boehm, University of Southern California; Hussain Badruddin Penwala, University of Southern California; Jihie Kim, University of Southern California

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

making classes were interspersed with activities thatinvolved mathematics either directly, e.g., working on traditional math worksheets or playingmath games, or indirectly, e.g., creating games or participating in discussion activities.Students were given surveys to evaluate their a) interest in games, b) technological literacy, andc) math motivation and college plans. A pre-algebra readiness test was given from the suite ofstandardized tests developed by the Mathematics Diagnostic Testing Project (MDTP, 2010).Decisions about math integration were based on the results, and also on conversations withadministrators, in particular their concerns that every child be able to pass the California StateHigh School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) as soon as possible

Conference Session

Using Computers, Software, and Writing to Improve Mathematical Understanding

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jorge A. Samayoa, Galileo University and Purdue University; Carlos Humberto Zelada, Galileo University

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

was 2,888 visits per day, with a standarddeviation of 1,038 visits, a maximum of 5,377 visits and a minimum of 610. Notice that one ofthe main reasons of the high variability is due to the Easter Week (spring break), denoted by (A)on the graph, and summer break, (B) on the graph. This behavior was surprising because in mostLatin American countries the academic year runs from January to December, and there are only afew weeks of break during the summer. This shows that some of our users comes fromSpanish-speaking people residing in countries outside of Latin America.In order to segment our population depending upon country of residency, we also collected thecountry and city from which users were accessing our website. Figures 4 and 5 show the

Conference Session

The Transition from Secondary to College Mathematics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bert Pariser, Technical Career Institutes

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

Figure 1Viewing figure 1 the title is” pythagorean puzzles.”In the top part of figure 1 there is a triangle and a square. The red triangle is a right triangle.The base is b the height is a and the hypotenuse is c. The area of the red triangles is equal to½ (ab) The little blue square has both base and height a-b. The area of the blue square is(a-b)2 which is equal to a2 -2ab + b2 .In the lower half of the figure1 there are two puzzles. The puzzle on the left is a large squarewhose side is c and whose area is c2. The puzzle on the right is a structure which is made withtwo squares. A large square with a side a with an area a2 is joined with a small square. The smailsquare has a side b and an area b2. The object of each puzzles is to use 4 red

Conference Session

The Transition from Secondary to College Mathematics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Helen M. Doerr, Syracuse University; Andria Costello Staniec, Syracuse University; AnnMarie H. O'Neil, C.S. Driver Middle School

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

to engineering freshmen, with the recitation sections taught by teaching assistants.Students who succeed in this course with an A or a B are generally successful in our subsequentcourse in Calculus I.While algebra skills are addressed in the standard pre-calculus course, the development of thoseskills is not a primary focus of the course. Students need a pre-requisite level of fluency inalgebra to be successful with the pre-calculus content on functions. Students who placed intocollege algebra did not meet that pre-requisite. To address this deficiency, we designed an“algebra infused” pre-calculus course. The algebra infused precalculus followed the samesyllabus as the standard course, with one essential difference. In this course

Conference Session

Using Applications and Projects in Teaching Mathematics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Hassan Moore, University of Alabama, Birmingham

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

should be able to complete the project with the material taught in class.Below are the primary course topics covered: I. First-Order Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs) A. Basic Concepts, Modeling B. Initial Value Problems C. Direction Fields Page 25.1437.2 D. Existence and Uniqueness E. Separable ODEs F. Linear ODEs G. Applications II. Second-Order ODEs A. Homogeneous Linear ODEs with constant coefficients B. Free Oscillations C. Forced

Conference Session

The Transition from Secondary to College Mathematics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alex Feldman, Boise State University; Doug Bullock, Boise State University; Janet Callahan, Boise State University

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National ScienceFoundation.References1. http://www.aleks.com/2. Rueda, N.G. & Sokolowski, C. (2004). Mathematics Placement Test: Helping Students Succeed. TheMathematics Educator, 14 (2) (pp. 27-33).3. Cederberg, J. N. (1999). Administering a placement test: St. Olaf College. In B. Gold, S. Keith, & W. Marion(Eds.), Assessment practices in undergraduate mathematics (pp. 178−180). Washington, DC: MathematicsAssociation of America.4. Cohen, E., Friedlander, J., Kelemen-Lohnas, E., & Elmore, R. (1989). Approaches to predicting student success:Findings and recommendations from a study of California Community Colleges. Santa Barbara, CA: Chancellor’sOffice of the California

Conference Session

Using Applications and Projects in Teaching Mathematics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David I. Spang, Burlington County College; Kathleen Spang, Middlesex Boro High School

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

College andMiddlesex Borough High School, both for providing a rich and innovative environment, with astrong focus on student outcomes and success.Bibliography1) http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/seind/2) http://www.bls.gov/oco3) J. Sinn, S. Walthour, and D. Haren, “Technology-Based Math and Science Applications”. The TechnologyTeacher, October 1995, p. 16-24.4) http://www.mos.org/eie/5) http://www.mos.org/educators/classroom_resources/curricula_and_research&d=20206) http://www.awim.org/7) http://www.mos.org/etf/8) D. Perin and R. Hare, Community College Research Center, CCRC Brief, June 2010.9) K. Spang, “Teaching Algebra Ideas to Elementary School Children: Robert B. Davis’ Introduction to EarlyAlgebra”, Doctoral Thesis, Rutgers University

Conference Session

Techniques in Improving Mathematics Education in STEM Curricula

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John R. Reisel, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Marissa Jablonski, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Ethan V. Munson, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee; Hossein Hosseini, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

groups for Math 231,and 20 students in the study groups for Math 232. As a result, we will ignore the results for theCollege Algebra and Trigonometry courses.Figure 1 presents the comparison between the Fall 2010 average course grade for students inMath 105, 116, 117, and 231 for two sets of students: one set is comprised of students whoparticipated in the study groups, and the second set is the remainder of the students who receiveda grade in the course. The grades are on a standard 4.0-scale (A = 4.0, A-= 3.67, B+ = 3.33 …D- = 0.67, F = 0). As can be seen in Fig. 1, the students in the study groups, on average,received higher grades than the students in the courses who did not participate in study groups.There is further elaboration of the

Conference Session

Using Applications and Projects in Teaching Mathematics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gunter Bischof, Joanneum University of Applied Sciences, Graz, Austria; Christian Steinmann, Joanneum University of Applied Sciences, Graz, Austria

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

, the collisional efficiency of FHP-I is therefore only7.8 %. (a) (b)Figure 2: Collision rules for the FHP-I model, reduced by symmetry. Filled circles denoteoccupied cells and open circles empty cells. In-states are shown on the left hand side, out-states on the right hand side.The FHP-II model is a variant of the FHP-I model that includes the possibility of one restparticle per node, in addition to the six moving particles of FHP-I. Each node than has sevenchannels, corresponding to particles moving along the six directions of the triangular latticeand to the rest particle. The channels associated with moving particles are labeled by integersfrom 1 to 6, and the channel corresponding to the rest

Conference Session

Using Computers, Software, and Writing to Improve Mathematical Understanding

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

N. Jean Hodges, Virginia Commonwealth University, Qatar

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

of short,in-class writing exercises called “One-Minute Papers” and “Three-Minute Recollections.” One-Minute Papers typically ask students to respond to a single question by writing an answer for nomore than one minute. Educator Brian Steele of Texas Tech University identifies five uses forOne-Minute Papers:____________________ b Although Pashler, McDaniel, Rohrer, and Bjork (2008) have uncovered numerous problems with researchin this area and have established doubt for some claims made by Linksman and others regarding learning styles andbrain hemispheric preferences, the author continues to discuss these theories with students to arouse their curiositythrough very personal relevance of the information and to encourage their

Conference Session

Techniques in Improving Mathematics Education in STEM Curricula

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jennifer Vandenbussche, Southern Polytechnic State University; Christina R. Scherrer, Southern Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

. Remembering back to 6.2: If the domain of f is D and the range is R, what is the (a) domain and the (b) range of f -1 ? 4. Use the previous question to find the domain and the range of f(x)=log2 x. 5. What is the inverse of f(x)=ex? 6. What base is implied in f(x)=log x? 7. Draw a quick sketch of f(x)=log2 x. Label at least 3 key points. What are the intercepts? 8. Draw a quick sketch of f(x)=log1/2 x. Label at least 3 key points. What are the intercepts? Page 25.150.14Appendix 2 – Sample Worksheet Page 25.150.15Page 25.150.16 Appendix 3 Pre

Conference Session

Using Applications and Projects in Teaching Mathematics

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie Gainsburg, California State University, Northridge

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

University Press. Page 25.436.143. Ginsburg, H. P., & Asmussen, K. A. (1988). Hot mathematics. In G. B. Saxe & M. Gearhart (Eds.), Children’s mathematics (pp. 89-111). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.4. Schoenfeld, A. H. (1992). Learning to think mathematically: Problem solving, metacognition, and sense making in mathematics. In D. A. Grouws (Ed.), Handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 334- 71). New York: Macmillan Publishing.5. Lesh, R., & Zawojewski, J. (2007). Problem solving and modeling. In F. K. Lester, Jr. (Ed.), Second handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning

Conference Session

Using Computers, Software, and Writing to Improve Mathematical Understanding

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John Schmeelk, Virginia Commonwealth University, Qatar

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

”, Page 25.489.10 J. Physiol. 197, (1968), 551-566. 6. Demirkaya, O., Asyali, M., H., Sahoo, P.K., Image Processing with MATLAB-Applications in Medicine and Biology, CRC Press, Florida, (2009). 7. Gonzalez, R.C., &Wintz, P., Digital Image Processing, Addison-Wesley Publ. Co., MA. (1987). 8. Jain, A., K., Fundamentals of Digital Image Processing, Prentice Hall, NJ, (1989) 9. Kalanad, A. and Rao, B., N., Detection of Crack location and size in structures using improved damaged finite elements, IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering, IOP Publishing, 10, (2010), 1-10. 10. Lim, J., S., Two-Dimensional Signal and Image Processing, Prentice Hall, NJ, (1990). 11. Mannan, M.,A

Conference Session

Using Computers, Software, and Writing to Improve Mathematical Understanding

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Bipin K. Pai, Purdue University, Calumet

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

Page 25.1435.52 Least Squares Fitting 2. If we know that the function is a power function y = a*x^b, then Student Response Value Correct Answer Feedback 1. it is better to use the exponential data as it exists and do a linear least squares fit. 2. it is better to linearize the data by taking natural logarithms of both the independent and dependent variables and do a linear least squares fit. 3. it is better to take the natural log of just the independent variable and do a linear least squares fit. 4. it is better to take the natural log of just 0% the dependent variable and do a least squares fit. 5. it is better to