SUMMARY OF PROJECT

"Linking Mathematics and Physics with Technology "

DUE-9650056

Marie Baehr and Jon L. Johnson, Principal Investigators

Elmhurst College Elmhurst, IL 60126

The Elmhurst College Mathematics and Physics Departments plan to develop a small computer laboratory dedicated to assisting students in learning the mathematics and physical concepts in two courses: Electricity and Magnetism in physics and Applied Analysis in mathematics. The courses will be linked through the use of similar teaching styles and close cooperation between the two faculty members, including attendance in each other's classes, planning meetings for the two courses, and mutually developed student projects for both courses. The emphasis on technology-based projects in each course will reinforce concepts, allow for exploration and discovery, increase analytic and communication skills, and break down the perception that physics and mathematics are unrelated disciplines. Elmhurst College has been a leader in the use of projects and technology in both the physics and mathematics classrooms. The mathematics department has used computer algebra systems, spreadsheets, graphing calculators, and other course specific software in all of its major courses. Since 1989, the physics department has used computers in its laboratories for acquiring data, building models, and analyzing collected data. Both of the departments wish to expand their programs with added technological and pedagogical links between the two departments, thus building upon each other's strengths. The technological link will be a small laboratory consisting of networked, pentium based workstations, a file server, a printer, a classroom computer with a display system, instructors' workstation, and supporting software. The two instructors will accomplish the pedagogical link through summer development and temporally linked sabbaticals which will be partially used for project development. Both departments see this as a natural step toward further strengthening their technological foundations.

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