A collection of mathematical items based on Java Applets. The applets were produced by Key Curriculum Press' software, The Geometer's Sketchpad, and implemented in Java through their JavaSketchpad software, so the "Gallery" is essentially a demo of the software. But the individual items are packaged as modules ready for student interaction, and are in fact ready for use as classroom illustration of geometric concepts or as assignments for students to complete. Also see the review of Java Sketchpad itself at Java Sketchpad.
Type of Material:
Interactive geometric Java modules.
Technical Requirements:
Browser supporting Java.
Identify Major Learning Goals:
In general, to enable students to better grasp geometric concepts by showing them the concepts "at work" in dynamic, interactive modules
Target Student Population:
Students in High School Geometry classes, Students in Precalculus.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:
The user needs to be able to read instructions and handle a mouse.
Content Quality
Rating:
Strengths:
Mathematically sound, graphically inventive. The following items were especially useful (**starred items will be reviewed individually)
SPINNING LOGO could be an amusing exercise in a non-major math/science course. Users can manipluate parameters and see the geometric effect of the changes.
CENTROID (redux) nice animation of centroid. Questions (centroid of quadrilateral) are for good students.
HYPERCUBE: can give students a taste of four and even five dimensions. (No questions for students).
;
LEAST SQUARES nice but has a problem (see below). Good for an in-class illustration.
**SINE WAVE GEOMETRY elementary but rich in possibilities. Has a good exercise built in.
THOUGHT EXPERIMENT nice (hard) problem in Analytic Geometry, Polar Coordinates. Interesting connection with Wittgenstein. Could ask: is this locus ever a circle?
**THE CONIC SECTIONS as the locus of Perpendicular Bisectors. Nice - has questions (some hard) and gives a lovely demonstration of this phenomenon. Nice options, too. Could use some more questions/activities.
NINE-POINT CIRCLE beautiful for students who have mastered the theorem. Otherwise not useful except as demo of what JSP can do.
PEAUCELLIER'S LINKAGE Succeeds as demo of JavaSketchpad potential. Could be assigned as project to prove how it works and to calculate dependance on radius.
Concerns:
Something that would be easy to fix: explain conspicuously in every module that the "up" key resets the applet, and that the < and > keys slow it down and speed it up. (The "reset" buttons in the applets do not always work correctly.) This information is available on the "help" page,
but not everyone thinks to look for it there. In general, references to literature on the concepts of the modules would enhance their pedagogical value. Here are the items which seemed less useful or not useful at all.
Stereo icosahedron: a cute application of JSP, but useless without special glasses and further explanation.
LEAST SQUARES nice but has a problem. 1. What good does it do to be able to translate the axes? 2. When the y- intercept control is near (0,0) it gets trapped under the control for moving (0,0) 3. No questions.
Iris: Pretty but where could it be used?
Lissajous: demo works but would be more useful with numbers. Harder to make up problems without. Also some reference to the underlying math would be useful.
Vasarely Bubble: no academic interest at this level.
Witch of Agnesi: a nice geometric explanation of this special curve, including some history (aphaeresis, please! how about contraction) but nothing for students to do but watch.
Quadrilateral Coil: a cute application, fun to play with, but too far from the curriculum to be useful.
Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool
Rating:
Strengths:
(This refers to the CAPITALIZED items). Items are self-contained; graphics are illuminating and fun to implement; questions are challenging.
Concerns:
For optimum use in coursework, items should be supplemented with a broader range of questions. Currently these must be supplied by the teacher or user.
Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty
Rating:
Strengths:
Items are self-explaining, controls are natural, except that applets would be much easier to use if the use of the "up", < and > keys was more obvious.
Concerns:
Some of the applets are a little rough to use (variable points do not track mouse as smoothly as could be desired).
Creative Commons:
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