Using MediaWiki to Enhance Mathematics Learning in Engineering Schools

Jorge A. Samayoa; Carlos Humberto Zelada

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Using Computers, Software, and Writing to Improve Mathematical Understanding
Tagged Division: Mathematics
Page Count: 14
Page Numbers: 25.1430.1 - 25.1430.14
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--22187
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/22187
Download Count: 456

Paper Authors

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Jorge A. Samayoa Galileo University and Purdue University orcid.org/0000-0001-8134-1197

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Jorge A. Samayoa holds a B.S. in electronics and computer science, a M.S. in operation research, and a M.S. in applied mathematics. In 2003, he started teaching undergraduate courses in mathematics at the Engineering School of Galilleo University and has taught courses at Francisco Marroquin University, Guatemala, and Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas. In 2004, he founded the Teaching Assistants Department of Galileo University, where he was responsible for all the Teaching Assistants of several schools of Galileo University. In 2006, he was awarded the “Excellence in Teaching” Award of Galileo University. Currently, he is a Ph.D. student, under the supervision of Dr. Abhijit Deshmukh, in the School of Industrial Engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind. His current research interests include complex systems, general systems theory, and efficiency and creation of teaching tools for engineering education.

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Carlos Humberto Zelada Galileo University

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Carlos H. Zelada holds a B.S. in electronics and computer science and M.S. in operation research. In 2003, he started teaching undergraduate courses in mathematics at the Engineering School of Galilleo University and has taught courses at Francisco Marroquin University, Guatemala. He currently directs the Department of Teaching Assistants for Universidad Galileo. In 2010, he was awarded the “Excellence in Teaching” Award of Galileo University. Currently, he is studying for an M.S. in applied mathematics under the supervision of Dr. Antonio Guillot, in the School of Engineering at Galileo University. He is creator and Editor of the website http://www.wikimatematica.org/. His current research interest is the creation of tools for engineering education.

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Abstract

WikiMatematica.org: Using Wikimedia to Enhance Mathematics Learning Abstract The increasing use of Wikimedia has changed the way students learn mathematicsand other sciences. Most of Internet users visit pages like wikipedia.org to learn abouta particular area of interest. These web pages have gained so much popularity that ex-perts have started consolidating their knowledge on them and have made their contentas well edited as a book. This which makes these sites less understandable for studentsthat are seeking a more `naive' approach to help them visualize the material prior togoing to the rigorousness of books. Given that, more and more students are using computers to prepare their reviews,homework and so on. Why not provide them with a tool that lets them not only createtheir own material, but also nd several articles written by other students like them-selves as well as videos or lectures related to the topic? While answering this question,on June 2010, we started conducting an experiment with 200 engineering students atUniversidad Galileo in Guatemala. In this study students were given access to the web-page wikimatematica.org to input mathematical content in the way they understoodit. We started having around 20 visits per day and we had 5 articles produced, withonly Guatemalan students accessing it. By June 2011 there are around 600 articlesand more than 5000 visits per day, where only 2% of them are from Guatemala andthe rest from countries like Mexico, Spain, Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia andUnited States of America, among others. Some of the many features that make wikimatematica.org dierent than web pageslike wikipedia.org is that students can add videos of lectures or explanations they founduseful when studying a particular area. Also, most of the time, students can nd ma-terial explained in a less rigorous manner, helping them by providing a comprehensiveoverview of the topic they are trying to learn. Nowadays wikimatematica.org is used as a reference at several Universities in LatinAmerica serving as a compliment to several mathematics courses, mostly in engineeringschools. The increasing necessity of web-tools to teach the new generation of studentsis forcing us to nd better ways to attract their attention and use it to generate contentuseful for the rest of the world, like what wikimatematica.org users are doing. 1

Citation
Format

Samayoa, J. A., & Zelada, C. H. (2012, June), Using MediaWiki to Enhance Mathematics Learning in Engineering Schools Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--22187

TY - CPAPER
AB - WikiMatematica.org: Using Wikimedia to Enhance Mathematics Learning Abstract The increasing use of Wikimedia has changed the way students learn mathematicsand other sciences. Most of Internet users visit pages like wikipedia.org to learn abouta particular area of interest. These web pages have gained so much popularity that ex-perts have started consolidating their knowledge on them and have made their contentas well edited as a book. This which makes these sites less understandable for studentsthat are seeking a more `naive&#39; approach to help them visualize the material prior togoing to the rigorousness of books. Given that, more and more students are using computers to prepare their reviews,homework and so on. Why not provide them with a tool that lets them not only createtheir own material, but also nd several articles written by other students like them-selves as well as videos or lectures related to the topic? While answering this question,on June 2010, we started conducting an experiment with 200 engineering students atUniversidad Galileo in Guatemala. In this study students were given access to the web-page wikimatematica.org to input mathematical content in the way they understoodit. We started having around 20 visits per day and we had 5 articles produced, withonly Guatemalan students accessing it. By June 2011 there are around 600 articlesand more than 5000 visits per day, where only 2% of them are from Guatemala andthe rest from countries like Mexico, Spain, Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia andUnited States of America, among others. Some of the many features that make wikimatematica.org dierent than web pageslike wikipedia.org is that students can add videos of lectures or explanations they founduseful when studying a particular area. Also, most of the time, students can nd ma-terial explained in a less rigorous manner, helping them by providing a comprehensiveoverview of the topic they are trying to learn. Nowadays wikimatematica.org is used as a reference at several Universities in LatinAmerica serving as a compliment to several mathematics courses, mostly in engineeringschools. The increasing necessity of web-tools to teach the new generation of studentsis forcing us to nd better ways to attract their attention and use it to generate contentuseful for the rest of the world, like what wikimatematica.org users are doing. 1
AU - Jorge A. Samayoa
AU - Carlos Humberto Zelada
CY - San Antonio, Texas
DA - 2012/06/10
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Using MediaWiki to Enhance Mathematics Learning in Engineering Schools
UR - https://peer.asee.org/22187
DO - 10.18260/1-2--22187
ER -