Group items tagged

A 13-yeard old naturalist shows how he applied the Fibonacci Sequence to patterns of tree branch growth. Evidently he wasn't done, by any means: http://inhabitat.com/13-year-old-makes-solar-power-breakthrough-by-harnessing-the-fibonacci-sequence/

A good maths game where players find a missing number from a sequence on a washing line. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

"Abstract What does it mean to have random numbers? Without understanding where a group of numbers came from, it is impossible to know if they were randomly generated. However, common sense claims that if the process to generate these numbers is truly understood, then the numbers could not be random. Methods that are able to let their internal workings be known without sacrificing random results are what this paper sets out to describe. Beginning with a study of what it really means for something to be random, this paper dives into the topic of random number generators and summarizes the key areas. It covers the two main groups of generators, true-random and pseudo-random, and gives practical examples of both. To make the information more applicable, real life examples of currently used and currently available generators are provided as well. Knowing the how and why of a number sequence without knowing the values that will come is possible, and this thesis explains how it is accomplished."

Game where players find the missing number in a grid of numbers. Good for learning patterns and sequences. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

These tutorials have ben developed by the Western Cape DoE and covers Number patterns and sequences, Functions and graphs, Algebra and equations, Finance, Analytical Geometry, Transformation, Trigonometry and Mensuration, Data handling

Pigeons "were taught to order 35 different sets of images, all of which displayed one, two, or three items. Then, the setup changed: values up to nine were introduced. The pigeons were then shown a pair of two familiar numbers (such as two and three), one familiar and one unfamiliar number (such as one and seven), or two unfamiliar numbers (such as five and eight). "

A beautifully designed and wonderfully useful number line resource for whiteboards. Choose the increments and starting point of the sequence and cover up numbers for the class to guess. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

Among a number of math related questions on this blog, this post focuses on a particular sequence of integrals

2011=157+163+167+173+179+181+191+193+197+199+211

Forthcoming July 2011, available for pre-order. a biography of the 13th century Italian mathematician Leonardo of Pisa, better known as Fibonacci, who introduced the Hindu-Arabic system of numbers to the west. "Fibonacci's book Liber Abbaci (The Book of Calculation) was the first to recognize the power of the 10 numerals, and to aim them at the world of commerce."

Abstract:"Prime Climb is an educational game that provides individual support for learning number factorization skills in the form of hints based on a model of student learning. Previous studies with Prime Climb indicated that students may not always be paying attention to the hints, even when they are justified (i.e. based on a student model's assessment). In this thesis we will discuss the test-bed game, Prime Climb, and our re-implementation of the game which allowed us to modify the game dynamically and will allow for more rapid prototyping in the future. To assist students as they play the game, Prime Climb includes a pedagogical agent which provides individualized support by providing user-adaptive hints. We then move into our work with the eye-tracker to better understand if and how students process the agent's personalized hints. We will conclude with a user study in which we use eyetracking data to capture user attention patterns as impacted by factors related to existing user knowledge, hint types, and attitude towards getting help in general. We plan to leverage these results in the future to make hint delivery more effective."

"a man who figured out how to have his pi and recite it, too - beyond 60,000 decimals. All it took was intensive practice and a knack for storytelling, a new study finds."

"Beautiful Mathematics is about beautiful mathematical concepts and creations. Mathematical ideas have an aesthetic appeal that can be appreciated by those who have the time and dedication to investigate. Mathematical topics are presented in the categories of words, images, formulas, theorems, proofs, solutions, and unsolved problems. Readers will investigate exciting mathematical topics ranging from complex numbers to arithmetic progressions, from Alcuin's sequence to the zeta function, and from hypercubes to infinity squared." (MAA, 2011)

A great maths site with flash resources, online tests and worksheets on a range of maths topics to print or use on your whiteboard. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Maths

Abstract: "This research seeks to look into the design process that promotes the development of an educational computer game that supports teaching and learning processes. The research specifically looks at the design of an educational computer game for teaching and learning of the topic of functions. The topic is essential in the teaching and learning of Mathematics courses such as Discrete Mathematics, Real Analysis and Calculus among others at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) Kenya. The computer game was developed using the Basic Unified process (BUP) which is a streamlined version of the rational unified process (RUP). This is an object oriented methodology mostly used for small projects with few end users. Due to the few numbers of end users we used interview method of data collection to gather requirements for the computer game. A paper prototype was used to validate the requirements. Use cases were used for both analysis and design of the game while Class diagrams and activity diagrams were purely used for the design of the game. Owens' six top level design anatomy aided in the design of the computer game. The overall computer game design was based on Crawfords' computer game design sequence model. The well designed and developed game met all its user requirements and was able to facilitate the teaching and learning of functions to Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science students who were taking Discrete mathematics in their first year of study at JKUATs' Taita/Taveta campus. Development of heuristics for measuring interest, fun and motivation are recommendations given to aid in the evaluation of user satisfaction of educational computer games."