Teaching Mathematics with Mathematical Software

摘要

The history of contemporary mathematical education is the history of a struggle against computers and IT. As a result specially selected simplified math problems are used while teaching. Just as it was a hundred years ago, contemporary students are forced to memorize a lot of rules and theorems in order to solve math problems. But we know that today they can get the same results using simple computer calculations. Information technologies can (and in this paper we argue that they should) change the traditional methods of solving mathematical problems. Here we share some simple problems that helped engineering students learn the basics of mathematics and computer science and even enjoy the learning process. In particular we point out that the ability to visualize solutions is very important in most contexts, and modern mathematical software packages offer users convenient and simple tools of visualization and even animation. Including them on our pedagogical team, we can significantly increase our students' understanding of the basic concepts and theorems of mathematics.