Speaker
Description
Modern technology is most often employed in two ways in math education: to enhance explanations (e.g. animated videos or widgets), or to find solutions and calculate answers. The fact that students sometimes do poorly even when taught by excellent teachers shows the limitations of the first strategy. The second strategy, which has been made incredibly easy by generative AI, is increasingly used by students, to the detriment of their learning (and grades). Learning mathematics requires both immersion in problem-solving, and practice. I will describe immersive exercises (IEs) that I have designed for sophomore-level linear algebra, in which students make problem-solving decisions in real time while the software handles routine calculations and provides immediate feedback. Unencumbered by low-level calculations, students may solve problems rapidly, and practice far more (and more complex) problems. External "black box" computational software is not needed. Students quickly realize that entering individual problem-solving steps in real time makes using AI solutions less efficient than simply learning to solve the problems and practicing. I have designed 75 IEs that have been coded by software engineers from The Math Atlas, which will be licensed to students to be used with the book Interactive Linear Algebra published this year by Taylor and Francis.