MAT 161: Calculus I

Gabriel Lugo
Associate Professor
Mathematics and Statistics

In 2005, a group of UNCW researchers received funding from the National Science Foundation to create a Virtual Learning Community (VLC) in chemistry and mathematics. The technological cornerstone of this work was the tablet PC. From 2005 to 2006, the researchers assembled a suite of software and hardware tools to exploit the capabilities of tablet PCs for teaching chemistry and calculus. In the spring of 2006, a group of students was equipped with tablet PCs and enrolled in special sections of CHM-102 and MAT-161. The students used their tablet PCs for taking class notes, acquiring laboratory data, analyzing data, doing homework, communicating with other students in the VLC, and many other computer-related tasks. The response from the students to this work was overwhelmingly positive and indicated that the project should be expanded to a larger group.
The project proposed for fall 2008 will involve a group of approximately 16 students, all of whom will have their own tablet PCs, enrolled in a special section of MAT-161. Compared to a traditional calculus course, the Tablet PC section will not differ in content but rather in delivery. We will use electronic data acquisition systems to perform a few experiments in which calculus is applied
In summary, the students will use their tablet PCs to:

• take class notes (specially prepared for tablet PC use),
• create mathematical models based on data from experiments.
• effectively collaborate on classroom and laboratory activities since the information they need to share will already be contained in files saved to their Tablet PCs.
• remotely communicate with the instructor and other students using pen-enabled technology. The tablet PC will facilitate rich mathematical communication using equations, graphs, diagrams and tables.