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Questions? E-Mail: info@distancecalculus.com or AIM/Chat: DistanceCalculus or Call Us @ [USA] 617.497.2096 |
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Questions? E-Mail: info@distancecalculus.com or AIM/Chat: DistanceCalculus or Call Us @ [USA] 617.497.2096 |
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Math Education Colloquium Series @ Suffolk University Boston Celebrating Our 11th Year of Teaching On-Line
Suffolk University
is one of the major
universities in Boston,
featuring its
internationally respected
Law School, School of Management,
and College of Arts and Sciences
Suffolk University is
All Distance Calculus Courses
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What is the Distance Classroom Like? The Distance Classroom is based on communication. Communication is the foundation of teaching and our courses have been designed so that our instructors can discuss the mathematics and your thoughts about it with you. Every aspect of our courses has been selected and built with communication in mind including the course material. Unlike a traditional math textbook, Calculus&LiveMath is a series interactive files. LiveMath is a computer algebra system and this allows the instructor and student to edit in their thoughts and ideas. This means that each student's math textbook becomes a personalized record of the individual learning experience -- and a meaningful educational and reference resource when the class is finished. 
Each course consists of several Chapters and each Chapter is composed of three sections:
What does the course material look like? Below are links to PDF files of a Basics notebook and a GiveItaTry notebook. The LiveMath Students can write and execute their own commands to explore the ideas within the lesson.
To download the example notebooks, place your cursor on top of the link and bring up your web browser's contextual menu and select Save As. What do solutions and feedback look like? Our primary function is not as an evaluator. Our goal is to help students understand mathematics. We believe the way to this goal is through dialog.....students supply solutions and instructors respond with useful feedback. Student solutions consisting of a single number do not give us any insight into the thoughts and ideas the student may be bringing to the problem. Our feedback is designed to help the student think mathematically. Our feedback focuses not on the final number, but on the process which produced the number. Our feedback is a guide for the student to learn to evaluate their own work. This type of dialog requires solutions full of explanations, algebra, numbers, graphs, self-evaluation all rolled into one. Here is an example:
Finally, there is a quiz for each lesson. Communicating To keep communication flowing, we have several tools available. Of course we always have e-mail running. Everyone is familiar and comfortable with e-mail. We use it not only to talk about math but also as a stepping stone to the other communication tools available. Sometimes students get stuck and need a little help....quick. In these situations, students typically need someone to listen to their deductions and point them in the right direction. For these, quick exchanges, we have been using Instant Messenger® quite successfully. Instant Messenger® is a realtime communication tool. This means that the delay between exchanges is very small. As soon as you finish typing your message and send it, the message appears on the receiver's screen. In this manner, we can hold miniconversations. The goal is to get students back on track and then let them continue on their way. Daily Routine After an initial getting aquainted period, students settle into their own personal daily routine. They use the tools with which they feel comfortable, when they feel comfortable. Our on-line classroom supports all of their daily activities.
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Distance Calculus is offered through the Mathematics and Computer Science Department at Suffolk University • 41 Temple Street • Beacon Hill • Boston, Massachusetts 02114 USA
Phone: 617.497.2096FAX: 617.497.2116 info@distancecalculus.com http://www.distancecalculus.com
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