Almost 10 years of research, development, and classroom testing has gone into Core Math Tools, a project developed at Western Michigan University--one the National Science Foundation says will give more students access to mathematical and statistical software.
The Core Math Tools Project is a suite of mathematical and statistical software tools that are available at National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
website.
Teachers and students can access and use the software online in mathematics classrooms, in school and local libraries, at home, or at any other place that offers Internet access. The software is free and can be downloaded to a user's school or home computer.
The principal investigator on the project is WMU professor of mathematics and longtime math curriculum innovator Dr. Christian Hirsch. His former doctoral student, Dr. Brin Keller, now an associate professor at Michigan State University is responsible for the coding of the software, and is the co-principal investigator. Their goal has been to develop and support implementation of an international-caliber high school mathematics program that will meet the nation's current and future needs.
Hirsch says the outcome of the work enables school districts to overcome long-standing financial constraints and provide equitable access to state-of-the art mathematics learning tools.
The software tools are created for algebra and functions, geometry and trigonometry, and statistics and probability. The tools are appropriate for use with many high school mathematics curricula.
"The tools are already influencing the nature of mathematics teaching and learning and mathematics teacher preparation nationally," Hirsch says.
Writer: Kathy Jennings, Second Wave Media
Source: Cheryl Roland, Western Michigan University
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