{"id":1338,"date":"2012-04-16T16:52:50","date_gmt":"2012-04-16T20:52:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mitcet.mit.edu\/2012\/04\/16\/mit-mathlets-interactive-web-sharing-of-educational-innovation-in-mathematics\/"},"modified":"2024-12-19T15:36:23","modified_gmt":"2024-12-19T20:36:23","slug":"mit-mathlets-interactive-web-sharing-of-educational-innovation-in-mathematics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mitcet.mit.edu\/2012\/04\/16\/mit-mathlets-interactive-web-sharing-of-educational-innovation-in-mathematics\/","title":{"rendered":"MIT Mathlets: Interactive Web Sharing of Educational Innovation in Mathematics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Poster Presentation\/Demo Abstract<\/h2>\n

The new MIT Mathlets interactive website enables instructors from the Department of Mathematics to share with educators around the world the visualizations for teaching and learning differential equations, which were created under the D\u2019Arbeloff Interactive Mathematics Project at MIT.<\/p>\n

Mathlets website<\/a><\/p>\n

Statement of the problem or issue<\/h2>\n

The basic undergraduate differential equations course at MIT, 18.03, is taken by some 85% of all undegraduates in their freshman or sophomore year. This course faces several challenges common to such courses across the country. A grant from the d’Arbeloff Fund for Excellence underwrote a project to address these challenges. A principle outcome has been the creation of a suite of Java applets for use as lecture demonstrations and, most importantly, as the basis for homework assignments. These applets can be used directly or in modified form in downstream courses, enhancing transfer.<\/p>\n

Three dilemmas face basic university mathematics courses, especially differntial equations courses.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Mathematics describes the behavior of real systems, but students tend to lose sight of this. Transfer is correspondingly diminished.<\/li>\n
  2. Chalk and slate force a choice between example and theory.<\/li>\n
  3. Development of algorithmic skills can crowd out conceptual development.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Description of activity, project, solution, and outcome<\/h2>\n

    Educators from the Department of Mathematics and the Office of Educational Innovation and Technology collaborated to create an interactive website that enables instructors from around the world to incorporate in their curriculum the animated differential equations visualizations, which were created under the D\u2019Arbeloff Interactive Mathematics Project. Users of the mathlet website can run interactive Java applets featuring over thirty different concepts in differential equations, download relevant teaching and learning materials, and share their own innovative uses of the applets to teach mathematics. The MIT Mathlets website is implemented in a highly customized, plugin-enhanced theme of the PHP-based open-source web publishing platform WordPress.<\/p>\n

    Importance or relevance to other faculty, staff, students, departments, and programs<\/h2>\n

    The Mathlet simulations represent concepts in differential equations, which are applicable not only to core curriculum in mathematics, but also to many engineering and science disciplines. Some mathlets already include examples from other disciplines, e.g., physics. In addition, the website\u2019s framework itself, which is a robust package of PHP and CSS files, can easily be populated with educational media from other disciplines and\/or with inter-disciplinary content. One potential application is to create a similar website to enable \u201cflashback\/flash foreword\u201d reference to and review of mathematical concepts that are applicable to engineering subjects.<\/p>\n

    Prof. Haynes Miller, Mathematics
    \nVioleta Ivanova, Ph.D., OEIT
    \n(Presented at MIT Educational Technology Fair 2009)<\/p>\n

    Topic Area(s)<\/h2>\n

    5.\u00a0Open educational tools and resources<\/em>
    \n 6. Promoting cross-departmental collaborations<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Poster Presentation\/Demo Abstract The new MIT Mathlets interactive website enables instructors from the Department of Mathematics to share with educators around the world the visualizations for teaching and learning differential equations, which were created under the D\u2019Arbeloff Interactive Mathematics Project at MIT. Mathlets website Statement of the problem or issue The basic undergraduate differential equations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[44],"class_list":["post-1338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-edtech-fair-2009","tag-edtech-fair-2009"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitcet.mit.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitcet.mit.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitcet.mit.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitcet.mit.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitcet.mit.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1338"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mitcet.mit.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2363,"href":"https:\/\/mitcet.mit.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338\/revisions\/2363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mitcet.mit.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitcet.mit.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mitcet.mit.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}