1. Click-and-Think over Chalk-and-Talk: The New Pedagogy via Interactive Excel Spreadsheets in Mathematics and the Sciences Scott A. Sinex Department of Physical Sciences and Engineering Prince George’s Community College 11-12 January 2007 Presented at

2. The promise in the abstract… Come experience Excel like you never have with off-the-shelf software and NO programming required! See mathematics come alive and let the THINKING begin - it’s just a click away! Get the resources for use in your classroom…

3. Why Excel? Ready off-the-shelf software Found in the work-place Found on home computers too Easy to use by students Can it be an interactive learning tool? (no marcos or VBA programming, just computation via formulas)

4. ...as a tool in math and science Great for handling, graphing, and analyzing data Easy transforming of data such as taking the log Regression and goodness-of-fit So a great tool for mathematical modeling of data and presenting graphs Using Excel for... Scientific Data Pre-set calculations & graphs – just add data

5. ...so now to Excelets! Excelets are interactive Excel spreadsheets A “Javaless” applet! A simulation of a mathematical model or an illustration of a simple concept A tool for higher-order thinking and illustrating science process and a tool that is easy to construct!!!!!

6. Why is pizza always cut in an even number of slices? What if it were cut in an odd number of slices? fractions.xls (Link to interactive spreadsheet)

7. What is the difference between interpolation & extrapolation? What if you go beyond the limit of the data? interpol_extrapol.xls (Link to interactive spreadsheet)

8. Does the height of a stack depend on the number of cookies? What if we used Double-stuf Oreos? cookies_stack.xls (Link to interactive spreadsheet)

9. Here is a “just add data” spreadsheet. What if we added more… calorie_calc.xls (Link to interactive spreadsheet)

10. Exploring Periodic Trends via interactive graphics PT_interactive.xls (Link to interactive spreadsheet)

11. As a learning tool... Active engagement of students Numerical experimentation Derive the ideal mathematical model “What if” scenarios Science processes –predictions –graphical interpretation –conclusions –random and systematic error (ideal to real) See Investigating Types of Errors Investigating Types of Errors Model Simulation science excelets

12. …but do students learn anything and do they want to think? “More hands-on approach and critical thinking skills are better utilized” “It helps me by playing with the graph…” “Because it makes student think and have a visual mode…” “Do without the excel” Let’s examine some post-activity survey results

13. Student feedback… Out-of-Class ProjectPurpose Percent that had no difficulty Semester (number of students) Investigating the Height of a Stack of Cookies Intro. to modeling – 1 st semester 89% Fall 2006 (19) Exploring Radioactive Decay [learn more…]learn more… End-of- semester project for 2 nd semester students (adds new material) 74%Spring 2005 (23) 73%Fall 2005 (30) 55%Spring 2006 (22) 63%Fall 2006 (32)

14. More student feedback Exploring Radioactive Decay … Semester (n) Student response Percent gain or break-even* Spring 2005 (23) 65%48% Fall 2005 (30) 57%29% Spring 2006 (22) 82%52% Fall 2006 (32) 53%29% *Results from final exam as similar question compared to project Do you think this activity helped you understand the concepts involved with radioactive decay?

15. What do the students want to do – Think or Listen? Semester (n) Activity or Click-and-Think Lecture or Chalk-and-Talk Both Spring 2005 (23) 30%57%13% Fall 2005 (30) 43%50%7% Spring 2006 (22) 41%59%0% Fall 2006 (32) 41%47%13% For Exploring Radioactive Decay

16. The “How to” resources... Developer's Guide to Excelets: Dynamic and Interactive Visualization with "Javaless" Applets or Interactive Excel Spreadsheets Tutorial, instructions, and a variety of interactive Excel spreadsheet examples Resource list for mathematics and science

17. Some final thoughts… Engages students in higher-order thinking –Interpretation/Analysis/Synthesis Engages students in algebraic thinking –Variables/Patterns/Representations Engages students in science process –Hypotheses /Predictions/Conclusions Reeks of meeting national standards in mathematics, the sciences, and technology –AMATYC/MAA/NCTM/NAS/NSTA/ISTEAMATYCMAANCTMNASNSTAISTE

18. More info... Scott Sinex – ssinex@pgcc.edussinex@pgcc.edu See course webpages and publications http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex http://academic.pgcc.edu/~ssinex Webpages embedded in PowerPoint – get LiveWeb (http://skp.mvps.org/liveweb.htm)http://skp.mvps.org/liveweb.htm...and THANKS for coming today!!!