This site provides an extremely large collection of material related to mathematics and mathematics education. It has a particular focus on problem solving including many recognized "problem of the day" type entries. It has many sub-pages some of which are reviewed separately elsewhere in MERLOT. The main page branches into several areas: Student Center, Teacher Place, Research Division, Parents and Citizens, Math Resources, Math Education, and Key Issues in Math. It also features the ability to accept mathematical questions and provide a response using FAQs or even personal e-mail. The Internet Math Library provides a useful access point to the material. MathForum also hosts the Mathematical Sciences Digital Library (MathDL) and its Journal of Online Mathematics and Applications (JOMA). Also see the related reviews at style="mso-spacerun: yes"> href="http://www.merlot.org/artifact/PeerReviewDetail.po?rOid=1010000000000013605">3-D Geometry and Drawing and href="http://www.merlot.org/artifact/PeerReviewDetail.po?rOid=1010000000000013603">The Math Forum Internet Mathematics Library.
Type of Material:
Reference and enrichment.
Technical Requirements:
Basic browser. Some sub pages require java compatibility.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
Math Forum is intended to serve as reference material in many areas and levels for students investigating mathematics. It provides resources for solving mathematical problems, resources for classroom teachers of mathematics, and resources for public involvement in mathematical education policy.
Target Student Population:
Math students at a wide variety of levels - particularly those interested in problem solving. Faculty members looking for classroom enrichment materials at a wide variety of levels. General public seeking to learn more about mathematics and educational policy.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
The mathematical content is clearly organized by level from beginning to advanced. The teaching and educational policy material is generally accessible.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
Consistency of layout and presentation aids in navigation of this complex site.
Math resources can be accessed by subject area and by level.
The Student Center features problems by grade level from k-12 through college, including weekly and monthly challenges, and non-English resources.
The Teachers Place divides college level resources into 2 year, college and graduate.
The Research Division includes resources for research mathematicians.
The Parents and Citizens area includes a wide variety of discussion groups about mathematics.
Under math education there are such resources such as classroom materials, directions and issues in pedagogy, software, internet projects and the use of technology in math education
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
Concerns:
None.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
The Dr. Math feature will attract many users with the ability to search for existing problems and solutions - for example a search under "Monty Hall" produced 10 articles from FAQs and archives
The FAQ feature includes classic problems, formulas and essays.
There is also the ability to submit an individual question for response.
There are weekly and monthly challenge problems.
For those interested in math education and public policy issues there is the option to participate in public forums with links to a large selection of discussion groups. Equity and access issues are included as is a job market.
Concerns:
The site features such a broad range of material that users may be discouraged.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
There is an excellent search engine feature that includes four different ways to approach the search. There is also a library page that provides alternative search options. The main page includes a "what's new" area.
Concerns:
The sheer volume of material could be overwhelming and perhaps make it difficult to locate or even relocate material already discovered.
Creative Commons:
Search by ISBN?
It looks like you have entered an ISBN number. Would you like to search using what you have
entered as an ISBN number?
Searching for Members?
You entered an email address. Would you like to search for members? Click Yes to continue. If no, materials will be displayed first. You can refine your search with the options on the left of the results page.
Searching for Members?
You entered an email address. Would you like to search for members? Click Yes to continue. If no, materials will be displayed first. You can refine your search with the options on the left of the results page.
