The impact of technology on teaching an ordinary differential equations course

摘要

It has been a real challenge to introduce some changes to the Ordinary Differential Equations (ODE) class at my school. The goal is essentially to have an ODE class that both exposes students to the solution methods for the traditional classes of solvable differential equations and maintains some mathematical coherence. In this paper, I describe my experience in implementing these changes, including both successes and failures. Based on this experience, I am suggesting a detailed course of plan aimed at improving the teaching of the ODE class. The recommended teaching methodology is enhanced by the use of technology in a lab setting (Mathematica) in conjunction with cooperative learning. This includes overcoming computational difficulties so that students gain a greater understanding of the connection between a given formula or a system and the actual situation that it describes.