In this article, a numerical method integrated with statistical data simulation technique is introduced to solve a nonlinear system of ordinary differential equations with multiple random variable coefficients. The utilization of Monte Carlo simulation with central divided difference formula of finite difference (FD) method is repeated n times to…

The goal of this paper is to promote computational thinking among mathematics, engineering, science and technology students, through hands-on computer experiments. These activities have the potential to empower students to learn, create and invent with technology, and they engage computational thinking through simulations, visualizations and data…

Equity Indexed Annuities (EIAs) are controversial financial products because the payoffs to investors are based on formulas that are supposedly too complex for average investors to understand. This brief describes how Monte Carlo simulation can provide insight into the true risk and return of an EIA. This approach can be used as a project…

The logistic person response function (PRF) models the probability of a correct response as a function of the item locations. Reise (2000) proposed to use the slope parameter of the logistic PRF as a person-fit measure. He reformulated the logistic PRF model as a multilevel logistic regression model and estimated the PRF parameters from this…

This article describes several methods from discrete mathematics used to simulate and solve an interesting problem occurring at a holiday gift exchange. What is the probability that two people will select each other's names in a random drawing, and how does this result vary with the total number of participants? (Contains 5 figures.)

Presents an approach to multidimensional unfolding that reduces the occurrence of degenerate solutions and conducts a Monte Carlo study to demonstrate the superiority of the new method to the ALSCAL and KYST nonmetric procedures for student preference data. (SLD)