Describes a comprehensive program developed at the University of Minnesota to help adult students who suffer from mathematics anxiety. The three components of the program--a diagnostic clinic, individualized tutoring, and content courses--are designed to analyze student needs, both mathematical and emotional, and to address those needs in a…

A University of Redlands (California) calculus course was redesigned to include computer demonstrations and homework assignments in which the computer could play an important role. Comparison of results of this instruction with that using traditional methods suggest the approach using computers has merit. (MSE)

Discusses how Discovering in Mathematics course at Hobart and William Smith colleges undoes damage done to women's sense of themselves as failed mathematics learners during their precollege years. Notes that course helps students who have previously had difficulty with or who dislike mathematics by paying special attention to barriers encountered…

Presents a brief discussion of the challenges presented to mathematics education by changes in social dependence on mathematics, in professional response to the needs of students, in institutional expectations of students and teachers, and in student demographics and expectations. Provides an extended outline for a syllabus used to clearly…

Brownian motion is an important stochastic process used in modelling the random evolution of stock prices. In their 1973 seminal paper--which led to the awarding of the 1997 Nobel prize in Economic Sciences--Fischer Black and Myron Scholes assumed that the random stock price process is described (i.e., generated) by Brownian motion. Despite its…

Courses below calculus need to be refocused to emphasise conceptual understanding and realistic applications via mathematical modelling rather than an overarching focus on developing algebraic skills that may be needed for calculus. Without understanding the concepts, students will not be able to transfer the mathematics to new situations or to…

There is a call for change in College Algebra. The traditional focus on skill development is failing, resulting in withdrawal and failure rates that are excessive. In addition, too many students who are successful do not continue on to take a successive mathematics course. The Institute for Mathematics Learning at West Virginia University has been…

Analysis of variance (ANOVA), a technique included in many introductory statistics courses, analyzes the relationship between a quantitative dependent variable and one or more independent qualitative variables. The nature of the relationship is expressed in a model with unknown parameters. Many textbooks emphasize the mechanics of the technique…

Unless the sample encompasses a substantial portion of the population, the standard error of an estimator depends on the size of the sample, but not the size of the population. This is a crucial statistical insight that students find very counterintuitive. After trying several ways of convincing students of the validity of this principle, I have…

I discuss an instructional model that I have used in my number theory classes. Facets of the model include using small group work and whole class discussion, having students generate examples and counterexamples, and giving students the opportunity to write proofs and make conjectures in class. The model is designed to actively engage students in…

In teaching a course without a textbook, we introduce a project in which students develop their own text. Details of the project, student reactions, benefits to students, and more are discussed. (Contains 2 footnotes.)

A Mathematica[TM] package is described that uses simulations and animations to illustrate key concepts in harmonic oscillation and electric circuits for students not majoring in physics or mathematics. Students are not required to know the Mathematica[TM] environment: a user-friendly interface with buttons functionalities and on-line help allows…

The Mobius strip, torus, and Klein bottle are used to graphically and analytically illustrate the differences between orientable and non-orientable surfaces. An exercise/laboratory project using the non-orientable Boy surface is included. (Contains 11 figures.)

Many counting problems can be modeled as "colorings" and solved by considering symmetries and Polya's cycle index polynomial. This paper presents a "Maple 7" program link http://users.tamuk.edu/kfdrc00/ that, given Polya's cycle index polynomial, determines all possible associated colorings and their partitioning into equivalence classes. These…

At some point between elementary and junior high school, something seems to occur that generates a rooted dislike toward the scientific disciplines in general and mathematics in particular. This results in most students in developmental education associating the word math with a series of illogical rules, totally disconnected from reality and…