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:
- Basics introduces the student to the current topic and
allows the student to explore the ideas presented.
- Tutorials continues the investigation prompting the student
for ideas.
- GiveItaTry is a collection of questions covering the lessons in the Chapter. Students add their solutions directly into the notebook and send in for feedback. Although students can send in any of the notebooks for feedback at any time, the GiveItaTry notebook carries the bulk of our exchanges.
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.
- sample Basics Notebook
- sample GiveItaTry Notebook
- Download LiveMath to your computer, or install the LiveMath Plug-in.
- Download the two example notebooks
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:
- Solution and Feedback / View with Plug-in
- Solution and Feedback / View with LiveMath
- Solution and Feedback / View with Adobe Reader
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.
Various Chat services (AIM, GChat, Yahoo IM, etc.) provide 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.
- Homework Exchange with customized submission pages.
- Communication
- Homework Storage with personal secure homework folders.
- Communication
- Syllabus
- Communication
- Gradebook