An introductory course in problem solving with emphasis on visual contexts.
Instructors: Dr.Paul Eakin (paul@ms.uky.edu, 606-257-6798) and Dr. Carl Eberhart (carl@ms.uky.edu, 606-257-1258
Text: Maple V, Release 4 (a computer algebra program) Industrial or Student Edition, Maplesoft Corp.
Prerequisites for registration: College Algebra
Level: For non-registered participation the background level required for most of the course is the basic general science and (non-calculus) mathematics of grades 8-11. Calculus is not required for the course. However the instructors do reserve the right to occasionally step outside that boundary for a few minutes in order to provide supplemental explanations for the benefit of participants who know that language.
Topics: Introduction to Maple, Maple as calculator, modeling
and manipulating geometric objects, translating geometric objects, introduction
to Maple procedures, automating it, loops and conditionals, animations.
Modeling tiling problems and "peg puzzles" with polynomials,
development of problem contexts, parameterizating problems
and more.
Organization: The lectures are offered via television in two fifty-minute segments per week. Both segments are broadcast on the KET Star Channel on Tuesday evenings from 5:30pm to 7:30 pm, beginning January 21, 1997. They are re-broadcast on local cable at different times. In Lexington, Ky from 8:00 to 10:00 pm on Wednesday evenings on TCI Channel 16.
There is a substantial amount of course material which students will acquire via the World Wide Web at a course home page which can be reached from a link off of UK Math Department home page
There will be homework each week which students will do and submit to the instructors via email, in the form of a Maple V, Release 4 worksheet. Homework will not be accepted in any other way. Homework must be submitted on time. Students may collaborate and receive assistance from any source on the homework.
There will be three tests during the semester, each taking the form of an assignment to be done by the individual student. No collaboration, consultation, or external assistance is permitted on tests although students may certainly confer with the instructors for clarification. Students will typically spend 20 hours on an exam over the course of two weeks. Each exam will count one third of the final grade.
Grades on exams will be assigned according to mathematical correctness (70%), quality of written exposition including English grammar, writing style and organization, (25%), and depth of inquiry and originality (15%).
Office Hours: Since the course is in a distance learning format students are expected to consult with the instructors via electronic mail and telephone. This is best done in the form of an annotated Maple V Release 4 workheet.