Using the Math Forum's Ask Dr. Math Site
as an Instructional Tool
presented by Suzanne Alejandre
at the 39th Northwest Mathematics Conference
Math For The Millennium
in Victoria, British Columbia
University of Victoria
Maclaurin D282, Computer lab with 28 iMacs
Saturday, Oct. 21, 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Goals of the Workshop:
The History of Dr. Math:
- To provide an overiew of Ask Dr. Math, a service of the Math Forum.
- To show that technology, particularly the Internet, can be used as a tool for teaching mathematics effectively.
- To help mathematics teachers think of places in their curricula that could benefit from the Ask Dr. Math service.
- To provide a hands-on opportunity to learn how to make an Ask Dr. Math link page.
In fall of 1994 the Geometry Forum (now the Math Forum) discovered a dormant project called "Ask Prof. Maths," where K-12 students could send in math questions and get personal answers. It was decided to revive the program, using Swarthmore College math students as 'Math Doctors' - they were called the 'Swat Team' - students who loved to answer questions from other students.
By the fall of 1995, the rapidly increasing volume of questions required that new members of the staff be recruited from other colleges around the country. By the year 2000, there had been over 300 volunteer 'Doctors' from all corners of the globe. The service continues to grow in popularity and has received a number of Internet awards.
Questions, Answers, and Archive:
Students submit questions to Dr. Math by filling out a Web form. Answers are sent back by e-mail, and then the best questions and answers are gathered into a searchable archive organized by grade level (elementary, middle school, high school) and topic (exponents, infinity, polynomials, etc.).
It is recommended to use the Dr. Math searcher and also the Dr. Math FAQs before actually submitting a question since there has been a lot of information written and archived on the Ask Dr. Math site.
Ask Dr. Math:
Search the Archives
Browse the Archives
College and Beyond
Link Page Samples:
Link Page Template
Color Palette Map
HTML: Basic Tags
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