Most two-year mathematics faculty initially won't gravitate toward the chapter on stakeholder involvement in implementing Beyond Crossroads. Faculty most likely will search out the chapter on curriculum and instruction. In fact, some mathematics faculty may not consider the relevancy of other stakeholders as an important factor for improving their…

We consider two different algebra topics that can be taught in a typical college class. With each topic, we demonstrate how a teacher can delve deeper using a computer algebra system.

In beginning chemistry classes, students are taught a variety of techniques for balancing chemical equations. The most common method is inspection. This paper addresses using a system of linear mathematical equations to solve for the stoichiometric coefficients. Many linear algebra books carry the standard balancing of chemical equations as an…

This article describes recommendations made by participants in a large project of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), in which representatives of "partner disciplines" shared what they would like students to learn in the first two years of college mathematics. The article further suggests implications for high school mathematics.…

Calibration is a technique that is commonly used in science and engineering research that requires calibrating measurement tools for obtaining more accurate measurements. It is an important technique in various industries. In many situations, calibration is an application of linear regression, and is a good topic to be included when explaining and…

This textbook presents a course in elementary mathematics adapted to the needs of students in the freshman year of an ordinary college or technical school course, and of students in the first year of a junior college. The material of the text includes the essential and vital features of the work commonly covered in the past in separate courses in…

In this note the authors investigate ways to shorten the amount of work involved in using the Rational Roots Theorem to find the rational roots of a polynomial with integral coefficients. The first result is a proof of a fact that we had long suspected, but were never able to find the statement of in any of the college algebra textbooks we had…

Researchers observed 28 university faculty in graduate and undergraduate science and mathematics courses in a three-year, longitudinal study of teaching. Subjects were selected from five higher education institutions in the state where faculty had a two- to five-year association with a reform-based NSF professional development program. Observer…

As well as being important for school mathematics, spatial thinking is a big component of advanced mathematical studies too. As Jones (2001:55) points out, "Much of the thinking that is required in higher mathematics is spatial in nature. Einstein's comments on thinking in images are well known. Numerous mathematicians report using spatial…

The purpose of this study was to measure student attitudes toward and conceptions about statistics, both before and after an introductory undergraduate college statistics class. Relationships between those attitudes and conceptions, as well as their relationships to achievement in statistics, were also studied. Significant correlations were found…

Popular culture provides many opportunities to develop quantitative reasoning. This article describes a junior-level, interdisciplinary, quantitative reasoning course that uses examples from movies, cartoons, television, magazine advertisements, and children's literature. Some benefits from and cautions to using popular culture to teach…

In the typical first-year mathematics course--whether it be calculus or a general education quantitative proficiency course--we struggle to help students see the relevance of mathematics to their own lives. Particularly in a focused course such as calculus, there is a danger that students see mathematics as an isolated subject, with applications…

Reasons for using Rolle's Theorem in calculus are discussed, with comparisons to the theorems of Lagrange and Cauchy. (MNS)

University entrance examinations in China are described. Then the 1985 test is presented. (MNS)

Standard calculus textbooks often include a related rates problem involving light cast onto a straight line by a revolving light source. Mathematical aspects to these problems (both in the solution and in the method by which that solution is obtained) are examined. (JN)