Breakout Sessions | Agenda | How to Register | Directions

• Engaging the Precalculus Student in the Learning Process
  Judy Beecher, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
  Judy Penna, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
  
  
• Quantitative Reasoning: Refocusing Your General Education Math Course
  Bruce Crauder, Oklahoma State University
  Alan Noell, Oklahoma State University
  
  
• Math is Music, Statistics is Literature
  Dick De Veaux, Williams College
  
  
• The Virtual Math Lab
  

Engaging the Precalculus Student in the Learning Process
How can we help our students make the most of the time they spend in class? This session will focus on activities that can be used to engage precalculus students in the learning process and produce a true learning experience during class. The discovery process and the use of a visual format enable instructors to guide students to focus on concepts, learn quickly and efficiently, and do quick reviews of previously covered concepts.

Quantitative Reasoning: Refocusing Your General Education Math Course
What does it mean when the poll has a maximum error of 3%? What happens if you only make the minimum payments on your credit card? How can you tell if the graphic display accompanying a newspaper article is fair, or misleading? What does it mean if the medical test comes back positive? These, and many other questions, are treated in a new mathematical literacy approach to the general education mathematics course.

Math is Music, Statistics is Literature
Statistics is about the world and the wisdom one gains with experience. This is the key to teaching Statistics. We need to emphasize the learning that Statistics gives us about the world. This is best done by outlining the steps in statistical thinking. We call them Think, Show and Tell. We start by thinking about the context and what we want to know. Then we use the methods, which is the Show step. The most important part is the Tell step, communicating to others what we've learned, or what the limits to the data are. We'll outline our strategy for informing and exciting students about Statistics and how we use the steps in an introductory course.

The Virtual Math Lab: On-line Courses and Assessment
With the increasing demand for on-line courses and assessment, mathematics educators are in need of good tools that will help them develop such resources quickly and easily. This session will review several excellent web-based applications that Addison-Wesley has developed for both instructors and students. Foremost among them is MyMathLab, an on-line teaching and learning tool designed to accompany all major Addison-Wesley mathematics textbooks. Other web based tools to be discussed in this session include MathXL, an on-line tutorial, homework, testing, and assessment program; TestGen, a test-creation program that allows tests to be exported to and delivered on-line; Digital Video Tutors, problem-specific tutorial videos on CD-ROM or DVD; and a free, two-way tutoring service available by toll-free phone, email, and fax.