Universities have drawn on an assortment of strategies to address the learning challenges and high attrition rates of developmental mathematics students. One of those strategies has been utilizing computer adaptive instruction (CAI) mathematics software. Reports about the efficacy of CAI vary from glowing to unfavorable. This article presents an…

Almost all finite groups encountered by undergraduates can be represented as multiplicative groups of concise block-diagonal binary matrices. Such representations provide simple examples for beginning a group theory course. More importantly, these representations provide concrete models for "abstract" concepts. We describe Maple lab…

Answering a call by the "Common Vision" for instructional material to "establish stronger connections with other disciplines" and "work with professional-level technology tools," the present article shows how various aspects of fitting circles to data fit in existing courses from basic calculus to advanced calculus.

We describe the process of adjusting the balance between computer-based learning and peer interaction in a college algebra course. In our first experimental class, students used the adaptive-learning program ALEKS within an emporium-style format. Comparing student performance in the emporium format class with that in a traditional lecture format…

In 2007 the Department of Mathematics at our institution began developing a placement process designed to identify at-risk students entering mathematics courses at the College Algebra and Calculus levels. Major changes in our placement testing process and the resulting interventions for at-risk students were put in place in Fall of 2008. At the…

This article attempts to introduce the reader to computational thinking and solving problems involving randomness. The main technique being employed is the Monte Carlo method, using the freely available software "R for Statistical Computing." The author illustrates the computer simulation approach by focusing on several problems of…

We share results from a quasi-experimental study in which we compared achievement between traditional face-to-face and computer-based sections of Intermediate Algebra on a common multiple choice exam as well as performance on open-response tasks. Students in the computer-based group performed better on the final exam and were also more likely to…