At the University of Hawai'i,
Calculus I & II each have a 1 hour lab component. Currently,
the lecture section is taught by a professor and the lab section is
taught by a graduate student. The TA and faculty member work closely
together to develop timely and educationally valuable
assignments. Sometimes, the lab is used as a recitation
section. Most of the time, the TA prepares students to complete
lab assignments.
Lab assignments vary widely in content, scope, and purpose. I usually
design labs to meet some educational benchmarks:
- A
lab should cover one topic in great depth, but should not sacrifice the
big picture.
- A
lab should integrate earlier material into the current discussion.
- A
lab should require students to use several of the following tools
simultaneously: computers, hand computation, mathematical theory,
analytic reasoning, physical intuition, Internet research, and
cooperative learning.
- A
lab should teach students how to properly interpret computer
output. Moreover, students should be weaned from their
technological crutches. Instead, students should be shown how to
use computers as an investigative tool.
- A
lab should develop a students ability to communicate mathematically
with other people.
Below
are samples of labs that I have written over the past several
years. The computer program we use at UHM is Derive for Windows.
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Lab Assigment: Definition of
the derivative.
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