Q: What do feather boas, cookies, and paper shredders have in common?
A: They are all ingredients that have the potential to help your
undergraduate students understand a variety of mathematical concepts.
In this book, 43 faculty from a wide range of institutional settings
share a total of 64 hands-on activities that allow students to
physically engage with mathematical ideas ranging from the basics of
precalculus to special topics appropriate for upper-level courses.
Each learning activity is presented in an easy-to-read recipe format
that includes a list of supplies; a narrative briefly describing the
reasons, logistics, and helpful hints for running the activity; and a
page that can be used as a handout in class. Purchase of the book
also includes access to electronic printable versions of the handouts.
With so many activities, it might be hard to decide where to start.
For that reason, there are four indices to help the reader navigate
this book: a concept index, a course index, an author index, and a
main ingredient index. In addition to providing activities for
precalculus, calculus, commonly required mathematics courses for
majors, and more specialized upper-level electives, there is also a
section describing how to modify many of the activities to fit into a
liberal arts mathematics class.
Whether you are new to using hands-on
activities in class or are more experienced, the authors hope that
this book will encourage and inspire you to explore the possibilities
of using more hands-on activities in your classes.
Bon appétit!
Readership
Undergraduate students and teachers interested in
introducing active pedagogy.
