Authoring Online Interactive Materials in Mathematics

Examples of online interactive materials in mathematics

Some features to look for:

• Clean design, effective use of screen real estate ("white space" is good, wasted space is bad), sensible and effective choices of colors and fonts
• Avoidance of flashiness, especially annoying or meaningless animation
• Avoidance of over-control of user behavior -- except where essential to keep the user on track
• Engagement of students in meaningful activity and interactivity -- not just in passive observance of animation
• Avoidance of "telling" -- especially telling "answers"
• Avoidance of ego tripping -- of showing students and colleagues how smart or clever we are
• Flexibility and range of use
• Accessibility for download, modification, reuse

There are many prinicples of good design, some in conflict with others -- so you have to make choices. All choices should be made by first asking "What is the effect on student learning likely to be"?

Resources (to pursue on your own time, not now)

• Lester's article, Designing Interactive Mathematics
• Jacobs and Mueller's book, Design Principles for Interactive Texts

(Note: In these sources CHI=HCI=human-computer interaction.)

Examples (mostly good, but with some negatives to watch out for)

1. Function, Derivative and Integral, a Java applet by Alexander Bogomolny – source code is not available from his site, and its operation can’t be modified much, but it has useful checkbox settings. The same applet appears in a JOMA article that includes source code and discussion of design.
2. The Josephus Problem by Doug Ensley, an example of the use of javascript for interaction. This can be downloaded like any other Web page. Located in MathDL's Digital Classroom Resources (DCR).
3. Using the TI-30Xa by Bill Hammack, a Flash movie -- an alternative to Java. Source code available on request. Also in DCR.
4. Buffon's Needle Problem by Kyle Siegrist -- part of an outstanding collection of reusable Java applets and components. Also available in DCR.
5. Spirograph by David Little -- note that page includes instructions for download of source code. This is definitely not instructional material, but it has been modified and used in the Connected Curriculum Project's Roulettes module.
6. Visualization in the Calculus by Leslie Aspinwall and Kenneth Shaw, National Curve Bank Deposit #21. A very mixed bag -- useful information for instructors, combined with misleading and confusing student examples -- among other things, illustrates the problem of not having a clear focus.

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