Interactive Java Applet For Equation Derivations
Kenneth C. Manning, Luke Bellandi · 2020
The Equation Activity applet, developed by Project Links at Rensselaer, is an engaging and interactive tool that allows instructors to guide students through the steps in deriving a particular equation.Project Links, an NSF-supported project at Rensselaer, is a cooperative effort by faculty from several departments, schools, and institutions to develop materials linking mathematical topics with their applications in engineering and science.The primary product of this effort is a set of interactive, web-based learning modules that rely heavily on hypertext, animations, and interactive Java applets.Through the Equation Activity, the instructor gives students enough information to derive a particular equation.The student's response is then evaluated by use of a semi-intelligent algorithm that recognizes association, commutativity, distribution, implicit multiplication, legal re-ordering of terms (flipping about the equals signs), and unlimited legal use of parentheses.The instructor specifies the particular terms, variables, operators, and constants for use by the student on a customizable keypad.This keypad can vary as the derivation steps progress, reflecting new information gained.The path to the desired equation is broken into several steps, allowing the student to progressively work toward the final equation.For each step in the activity, the instructor, using text and equations, specifies the steps to take to obtain the next intermediary equation.Hints can be supplied to the student who enters a wrong or inappropriate equation.Once the student has produced the proper equation for a step, that equation is saved and can be reviewed by the students as they work on subsequent steps.This process iterates until the final equation has been reached.The applet is easily modified and added to existing courseware.