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…

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…

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…

Many popular mathematical software products including Maple, Mathematica, Derive, Mathcad, Matlab, and some of the TI calculators produce incorrect graphs because they use complex arithmetic instead of "real" arithmetic. This article expounds on this issue, provides possible remedies for instructors to share with their students, and demonstrates…

We consider two different algebra topics that can be taught in a typical college class. With each topic, we demonstrate how a teacher can delve deeper using a computer algebra system.

This article describes a calculus project that exposes students to the concept of retirement annuities in both the saving and withdrawal phases, via revenue streams represented by integrals. Students use modeling skills to solve several related problems as the assumptions of the original problem are changed, and the project requires them to use a…