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Denison Symbolic Computing Project

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The presentation of scientific principles to the current generation of students who seem to read less than previous generations but who are at ease with computer and video systems needs to be revitalized. The emerging technology of computer-based symbolic manipulators coupled with high resolution color displays offers a revolutionary way of doing this. National interest in symbolic computation is growing. There is a growing conviction among science and mathematics educators that symbolic computing systems can be used to expose the underlying principles of their disciplines more convincingly than exercises found in current standard texts.

The project, supported by the Fund for the Improvement of PostSecondary Education and the W.M. Keck Foundation, involves the implementation of new technology throughout a large fraction of the science curriculum at Denison University. The central pedagogical objective of this project has been to develop courses and course materials through which the fundamental principles of science can be taught in an active teaching/learning environment. This is accomplished through the use of realistic problems that highlight the underlying science and avoid the compromises usually dictated by the desire to obtain analytically simple solutions and through the introduction of multiple forms of visualization and knowledge representation.

The specific goals of the project are to

1) alter students' perception of what is important

2) promote exploration

3) emphasize concepts

4) use realistic problems

5) promote the use of multiple comceptual representation

A parallel pedagogical objective is to evaluate the impact of computer-based symbolic computing on the amount and type of science material covered in our courses and on the degree to which our students retain and apply the knowledge of both the science and mathematical techniques.

We have developed materials for courses in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics, Geology, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology which take advantage of the capabilities of symbolic computing systems. One of the products of this project is the development of a collection of exercises which, through the use of symbolic computation, expose the underlying principles of science and mathematics more convincingly.

The following courses have been modified by taking advantage of the capabilities of symbolic computation: General Zoology, Ecology, Evolution, Physical Chemistry I & II, Topics in Physical Chemistry, Geomorphology, Weather and Climate, Oceanography, Structural Geology, Quantitative Reasoning, Numerical Analysis, Probability and Statistics, Modern Physics, Classical Mechanics, Electromagnetism, Electronics, Optics, Quantum Mechanics, Research Methods in Psychology, Statistics for Behavioral Sciences. The overall goals of these courses as well as class assignments, classroom instruction, and methods of assessing students' learning, will need to be changed to take full advantage of the potential of symbolic computation.