Abstract Uof Scientific WorkPlace is a sophisticated, MATH WYSIWYG (ae), scientific word processor that produces typeset quality symbols and text. It also contains an interactive Com- puter Algebra System with graphing and random exam building capabilities. Last fall I taught a course on this software pack- age using video lecture files distributed to students over the Internet. In this talk I will describe the specific methodologies used to communicate with the students, discuss the strategy I used to access the students, present my and the students’ view of the effectiveness of this course, and out- line my thoughts on the future of using videos and the internet as an instructional SWP medium. Spring 2004 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF AKRON Uof Theoretical and Applied Mathematics MATH Mastering Scientific WorkPlace using Online Instruction Thomas E. Price c 2004 [email protected] SWP March 25, 2004 Version 1.1 Spring 2004 Section 1: The Program 3 1. The Program Uof • Scientific WorkPlace is a sophisticated scien- MATH tific word processor that produces typeset qual- ity symbols and text. • WYSIWYG (ae) • It contains an interactive Computer Algebra System with graphing and exam building ca- pabilities. • Produces Latex code with dvi type setting and printing as well as documents in the – pdf format. – rtf format. – html format. – xhtml format. SWP Spring 2004 Section 2: Goals of the course 4 2. Goals of the course Uof • Instruct the students in the use of Scientific MATH Workplace as a scientific word processor and WYSIWYG Windows front end to LATEX code. • Teach students to correctly typeset text and mathematics. • Acquaint students with the computer algebra system in Scientific Workplace. • Introduce the use and construction of style files and document class options to control the format of a document. • Prepare the students so that they can create professional, typeset quality scientific docu- ments and presentations. SWP • Require some mathematical thought. Spring 2004 Section 3: Frequently Asked Questions 5 3. Frequently Asked Questions Uof • How will the lesson files be distributed? MATH – The instructor will use Camtasia Studio to produce video lecture files that can be viewed by the students on their or lab computers. Camtasia Studio ∗ records screen activity and narration. ∗ produces .exe files as well as popular video formats (reasonable download time). ∗ creates high quality video and sound. ∗ is versatile. ∗ is relatively easy to use. ∗ has a video and audio clip editor. ∗ is capable of including links and call- outs. SWP ∗ has a menu construction tool. Spring 2004 Section 3: Frequently Asked Questions 6 • Will I need to purchase SWP? Uof –No, the program is available over our MATH VPN • How much time will be required of me? – No more than six hours per week. • Can students request that certain topics be covered? – Absolutely! SWP Spring 2004 Section 3: Frequently Asked Questions 7 • What strategy will be used for assessment? Uof – Your grade will be determined by as- MATH signed projects. ∗ one or two per week as well as one final project ∗ submitted to the instructor over the internet (pdf, dvi, tex) ·allprojectsMUSTbecompleted... ·...ontimetoreceivecredit SWP Spring 2004 Section 3: Frequently Asked Questions 8 • What kind of projects will be required? Uof Projects ... MATH – are designed to encourage students to correctly typeset scientific documents. – target the use of SWP’s CAS and graph- ing capabilities. – introduce students to the use of LATEX. – require the use and development of LATEX and .cst style files. – often contain mathematical content. SWP Spring 2004 Section 3: Frequently Asked Questions 9 • Will students have opportunities to design their Uof own projects? MATH –Yes. In fact, creating your own projects will be encouraged. • Will groups of students be allowed to work together on projects? –Yes. SWP Spring 2004 Section 4: Comment files 10 4. Comment files Uof • Initially, I graded each project file separately. MATH • I switched to comment videos at Project 5. Comment videos – review the material. – share student/teacher ideas with all stu- dents. – encourage interaction between students. SWP Spring 2004 Section 5: Security measures 11 5. Security measures Uof • None in this course except for the final project. MATH • Administer exams and projects in a controlled environment. SWP Spring 2004 Section 6: Benefits as a service course 12 6. Benefits as a service course Uof • Best of all, with SWP one can produce su- MATH perior quality math in less time than it takes to write problems out by hand. It is neat, legible, correctly formatted, and any sort of graphs or other images can be in- serted. I plan to use SWP for all my future math assignments. • This (word processing and computer al- gebra system) combination allows one to perform mathematical calculations while simultaneously creating a document. SWP Spring 2004 Section 6: Benefits as a service course 13 • Using the program to type my homework, pa- Uof pers, and other assignments in my classes has MATH allowed me to organize my thoughts and proofs in a way that can be easily un- derstood by the reader. • Scientific Work Place has opened the door to a new world of mathematics for me. I have come to realize the power of having a computer program that enables you to do virtually anything you could with pencil and paper. ... it wasn’t long before I began to do my homework assignments in SWP. SWP Spring 2004 Section 7: Benefits from the students’ perspective 14 7. Benefits from the students’ perspective Uof • Scientific Workplace has significantly light- MATH ened my workload simply because it is so easy to use. • In fact, my maturity in writing mathe- matical arguments and proofs has dras- tically increased since I’ve been using the software. • SWP is also useful in a broader educational sense. SWP forces students to use cor- rect notation. Learning the basic syn- tax of SWP also enhances understand- ing. There is much more to a course in SWP than typesetting. SWP Spring 2004 Section 7: Benefits from the students’ perspective 15 • Another benefit that I gained from this pro- Uof gram is its indirect ability to teach a per- MATH son better mathematical techniques.My proof writing (ability) has increased dra- matically as well as my understanding of calculus concepts. • Scientific Workplace allows me to continue to be more and more creative with projects. SWP Spring 2004 Section 7: Benefits from the students’ perspective 16 • Readability and presentation of logic, Uof two of the most important ingredients to any MATH mathematical argument, are consequent from writing in SWP. • Its computational capabilities have taken the lackluster out of doing mundane, yet tedious calculations, such as matrix multiplication, while writing mathematics. This class has been a pleasure to take this semester. SWP Spring 2004 Section 7: Benefits from the students’ perspective 17 • The format of the class - having lessons over Uof the internet - makes it convenient for us as MATH students to learn the lessons at a time that best suits each student individually. • Having the lessons posted on the internet al- lowed me to review parts of a lesson that I may not remember at a later time and gave me the liberty to stop and pause each lesson so that I could learn at a pace that was conducive to my learning. SWP Spring 2004 Section 7: Benefits from the students’ perspective 18 • I think having each lesson posted on the in- Uof ternet and not having class meetings al- MATH lowed the students more time to focus on working with Scientific Workplace rather than requiring the time to come to a class. • The structure of the course allowed for a unique educational experience. Although the relationship between professor and stu- dent was not physically one-on-one, I felt I could reach (the instructor) at anytime. Office hours were provided and he could al- ways be reached via email. I never had an unanswered question. • More accommodating to students with disabilities. SWP Spring 2004 Section 8: Benefits from my perspective 19 8. Benefits from my perspective Uof • An enjoyable course to teach! MATH • Does not tie up a lab or classroom. • The use of computer videos is an effective way of presenting software. • Flexible with respect to pace and course mod- ifications. • This type of course can easily be repeated. • Helps prepare students for future work. SWP Spring 2004 Section 8: Benefits from my perspective 20 • Can be used to teach Post Secondary students Uof • ... as well as students (and faculty) at other MATH institutions. • UA-REU program Thomas E. Price The University of Akron [email protected] http://www.math.uakron.edu/˜tprice/ SWP Spring 2004 .