Material Detail

Mathematical Visualization Toolkit

This site consists of a collection of plotting and solving applets featuring a uniform user interface. This site was selected as the 2005 MERLOT Classics Award winner for the Mathematics discipline due to its value and effectiveness as a set of teaching/learning tools. Visualizing mathematical concepts, especially in three-dimensional space, can be quite difficult for students. These tools and applications enable students to see the concepts in action and to come a deeper understanding of the underlying mathematics. In addition, the collaboration between the faculty, students and Sun Microsystems staff who together designed and constructed these tools was quite unusual and impressive. The collaboration itself is an inspiring model.

Keywords:: implicit, polar, vector field, Taylor, spherical, cylindrical, Fourier, 3d graphing, matrix, contour, Riemann, Taylor polynomials, graphing, tangent, root finder, parametric, gradient, volumes of revolution

Disciplines:

Mathematics and Statistics / Mathematics / Calculus

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More about this material

Material Type:: Simulation
Date Added to MERLOT:: July 17, 2001
Date Modified in MERLOT:: January 18, 2020
Author:: University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Applied Mathematics
Submitter:: Kurt Cogswell
Primary Audience:: College General Ed
Technical Format:: Website, Java Applet

Mobile Compatibility:: Not specified at this time
Technical Requirements:: Java-enabled Browser, preferably Internet Explorer.
Language:: English
Cost Involved:: No
Source Code Available:: No
Accessibility Information Available:: No
Creative Commons:: No

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Comments

Winslow Johnson (Student)

11 weeks ago

It looks useful for my work. Thanks.

Milton McClary (Faculty)

40 weeks ago

no wonder the site won on MCA2005, the best

Adam Tripodi (Consultant)

51 weeks ago

This is really helpful and it made some of my confusion clear..!! totally recommended.

Used in course? Yes

Time spent reviewing site: 5 hours

Leon Fleischer (Teacher (K-12))

1 year ago

I found this material very helpful for many different problems and applications. It would be an effective teaching tool for all math levels.

Used in course? Yes

Time spent reviewing site: 30 min

Alexino Corstezo (Student)

1 year ago

Thanks a lot! I've been searching this for so long!

Jack Brown (Student)

1 year ago

Very informative website - educational and easy to use.

AnnMaria DeMars (Faculty)

4 years ago

Not sure this continues to be useful. Chrome blocks Java. To get it to run in Firefox, I needed to open the Java menu and add the site to approved sites, ignoring the many annoying security warnings, and then when it did open, the initial screen just showed ERROR

Time spent reviewing site: !0 minutes trying to get it to work

Jacob Cook (Student)

10 years ago

the ability that this site has to use 2d and 3d examples right in front of you helped to get a better understanding of the graph. being able to see it from all angles helps to figure all possibilities.

Technical Remarks:

very many tools to use in many different ways to solve many problems.

Time spent reviewing site: 15 minutes

Bryan Woods (Student)

13 years ago

I have reviewed the material at Merlot.org over the past few months now after
being introduced to the site by my instructor. I believe it to be an awesome
resource. Yes, I do believe that the materials accurately present concepts and
models that are educationally significant. Additionally, the potential
effectiveness for enhancing the learning process I found to be significant. I
found the material and the website to be user friendly, however, at a quick
glance it would appear crowded with information and necessary to focus on each
point specifically without a general overview present.
Thanks,
Bryan M. Woods

Used in course? Yes

Jones (Student)

17 years ago

I looked over this website that had a lot of informational reading with some
examples to look at. Not much interaction is envolved in this website but it was
definatly educational and easy to follow.

TRIET TA (Student)

7 years ago

This has been one of the best graphing programs I've seen so far. The software covers a variety of mathematical fields, especially calculus and differential equations. This can be used both in class and at home for students who want to explore more about Math and Physics.

Technical Remarks:

It takes a little bit of time to get accustomed to this program. However, the interface is friendly, easy to use. Plus, all the questions are answered in detail in the help section.

Time spent reviewing site: 1 hour

Laura Gossman (null)

11 years ago

i spent about 10 minutes looking at this program. the program is nice because it is simple to use.students and teacgers can use this software because it helps people in different math categories.

Jennifer Ly (Student)

10 years ago

I spent about 10 minutes reviewing it. It seemed to have a lot of valuable math applications ready to go for you, for all types of math levels ranging from root finding to vector plotting; no idea what these things are, of course. I think it'd be useful for teachers in classrooms who can use it to enhance student learning who are visual learners. The tools are there, for ex. to manipulate a curve at the press of a button so the student sees the concept relating to the visual.

Time spent reviewing site: 10-15 min.

Justin Vincent (Student)

12 years ago

I found MVT to be very useful for many different problems and applications. As a teaching tool this would be very effective for a high school to college level math student. Great for someone who knows computer language.

Technical Remarks:

The problem with MVT is its plotting system, when plotting certain graphs it seemed to be inaccurate. The software is also a little hard to use when trying to plot more difficult equations.

Pan Par (Student)

9 years ago

well organised and usefull, lacks in user friendliness but generally recommended

Nabeel Oqbi (Student)

11 years ago

I found Mathematical Visualization Tool very helpful for many different problems and applications. It would be an effective teaching tool for all math levels. It makes the student understand the different between 1D, 2D and 3D.

Used in course? Yes

Time spent reviewing site: 30 min

Vanessa Wright (Content Developer/Author)

7 years ago

This is an excellent online graphing utility. This software can be utilized from the basic math courses all the way up to the very intermediate math courses. However, there may need to be some directions included on how to effectively use the utility. Nevertheless, the help section gives very detailed explanations. Overall, the end user aspect is user friendly.

Time spent reviewing site: 20

Fernando Sam (Student)

10 years ago

It looks great and also very useful for people for people who can benefit from this tool.

Rachel Micheletti (Student)

10 years ago

I just briefly looked over this tool. It looks like it would be very helpful for graphing, however I am not at this level of math. I like the visual effects though I don't know how to make the most out of it.

Time spent reviewing site: 10 mins

Vilmar Nascimento (Student)

11 years ago

Is interesting, easy to use and has many resources

Used in course? Yes

anthony blehblah (Student)

10 years ago

It was somewhat easy to use on problems.But it was more useful for many problems.I think any level of math would be very useful with this.It teachers use this, they will surely learn more effectivley. First time users shouldnt feel that uncomfortable wiht it, as for me it was quite easy.

Technical Remarks:

I really like this one.

Time spent reviewing site: 45 minutes.

Melissa Rodriguez (Student)

10 years ago

I enjoyed interacting with the 3D function plot. I moved it and twisted it in so many ways. I even pushed some of the buttons that made it transform it's state of being. It got me curious on what else I could click on to find out how math can entertain me. Math isn't my strong suit. But being able to manipulate what was presented to me at first was fun and educational.

Technical Remarks:

Having to click on the object and hold down to move the object any which way I could was amazing and had me wanting more. But I wanted to give my comment in so others can definitely and substantially know that this is a site to visit and learn from.

Time spent reviewing site: In total I spent about 15minutes clicking, and keeping myself entertained until I wanted to see more.