This article describes how mathematics may be experienced in widely different ways across mathematics and physics courses and highlights some unexpected constraints in a trigonometry curriculum. The examples and discussion are based on a study (Mateas 2020) that compares how trigonometry is portrayed in representative physics (i.e., "Holt…

Mathematics courses should prepare students to use mathematics in a range of contexts, including science. However, students often struggle in applying mathematics in physics courses, even when they understand the mathematical content (Rebello et al., 2007). Often the root of this struggle is attributed to the "student" or the…

Inequities in student access to trigonometry and calculus are often associated with racial and socioeconomic privilege, and often influence introductory physics course performance. To mitigate these disparities in student preparedness, we developed a two-pronged intervention consisting of (1) incentivized supplemental math assignments and (2)…

Science and engineering instructors often observe that students have difficulty using or applying prerequisite mathematics knowledge in their courses. This qualitative project uses a case-study method to investigate the instruction in a trigonometry course and a physics course based on a different methodology and set of assumptions about student…

Tiny prisms in reflective road signs and safety vests have interesting geometrical properties that can be discussed at any level of high school mathematics. At the beginning of the school year, the author teaches a unit on these reflective materials in her precalculus class so that students can review and strengthen their geometry and trigonometry…

In this article, the authors present a lesson whose goal is to utilise a scientific environment to immerse a trigonometry student in the process of mathematical modelling. The scientific environment utilised during this activity is a physics simulation called "Wave on a String" created by the PhET Interactive Simulations Project at…

A 2 m long wooden beam provides an ideal demonstration tool for exploring moments. A class set is cheap and can be used at introductory and advanced levels. This article explores how such beams can be used to support learning about moments, equilibrium, vectors, and simultaneous equations. (Contains 7 figures.)

The authors draw together a variety of facts concerning a nonlinear differential equation and compare the exact solution with approximate solutions. Then they provide an expository introduction to the elliptic sine function suitable for presentation in undergraduate courses on differential equations. (MNS)

Describes an analysis of the direction taken by a baseball immediately after coming into contact with the bat. Uses geometry, trigonometry, and physics. (MKR)

An integral, either definite or improper, cannot always be computed by elementary methods, such as reversed usage of differentiation formulae. Graphical properties, in particular symmetries, can be useful to compute the integral, via an auxiliary computation. We present graded examples, then prove a general result. (Contains 4 figures.)

Presents activities that combine astronomy problems with algebra, geometry, trigonometry, data analysis, and physics. Provides experiences for students in making distance measurements themselves by using the method of parallax. (ASK)

This article presents some of the optics and mathematics related to what causes a rainbow, why it is brighter inside than out, and why more than one rainbow may appear. (PK)

Among teachers of mathematics throughout the world there has recently been manifested a notable increase of interest in all educational work. This interest is due in part to the present general agitation in every educational line, in part to the influence of such related departments as physics, in part to the increased demands of industry, and in…

Methods use to reconstruct traffic accidents provide settings for real life applications for students in precalculus, mathematical analysis, or trigonometry. Described is the investigation of an accident in conjunction with the local Highway Patrol Academy integrating physics, vector, and trigonometry. Class findings were compared with those of…

The UNESCO SchoolNet project, "Strengthening ICT in Schools and SchoolNet Project in ASEAN Setting", was initiated to assist teachers to integrate ICT into teaching and to facilitate participation of teachers and students in the Asia-Pacific region in SchoolNet telecollaboration activities. The project was launched in July 2003 and…