Abstract

Web-based Teaching and Learning with Math-kit

In this article we present the concepts and first results of math-kit, which is being developed at the universities of Bayreuth, Hagen, Hamburg and Paderborn. The research and development is part of the program Zukunftsinvestitionsprogramm sponsored by the German government to introduce new media into university teaching.

math-kit is a web-based construction kit, which provides professors and students with multi media support for central topics in undergraduate mathematics. Moreover, its development is intended to close the gaps between the education of mathematics students and the training in technical disciplines such as computer science or mechanical engineering. math-kit tools combine mathematical algorithms with examples from other disciplines and vice versa. Furthermore, elements for student motivation, exploration, applications and visualization are contained. With the possibility of combining elements to support different learning objectives, professors are able to employ math-kit to compose individual teaching units.

From the technical point of view math-kit is based on the Sharable Content Object Reference (SCORM) standard and uses XML as the implementation language. The basic elements of math-kit are called assets, small highly interactive components like Java applets. Learning units can be built from assets; complete courses consist of different learning units. Further technical highlights of math-kit are the accessibility via the web and the possibility of using the computer algebra system MuPAD as the mathematical engine. In contrast to other systems, the elements of math-kit cannot only perform numerical computations, but the assistance of MuPAD also makes symbolic computations possible. The mathematical power of MuPAD can be used through the web without forcing the user to learn its complex programming language.

An outline of the system structure and some examples will be given.