MERLOT learning materials have been developed by faculty around the world and submitted to MERLOT for use by the academic community. The materials include lecture presentations, Java applets, animations, tutorials, reference materials and more.
Examples of Use
Faculty make use of MERLOT learning materials in a variety of ways to enhance the teaching/learning process and to engage their students more effectively. Some primary uses and examples are:
Note: Each hyperlink goes to the MERLOT Detail View of the learning material and provides access to a brief description of the material, a peer review, and a direct link to the material itself.
Use a Java applet or animation to illustrate a mathematical concept in the classroom.
Example: Use the simulation in Numerical Integration Simulation to illustrate Reimann sums and and the amount of error involved with various integration methods.
Example: Use Animations with your freshman and sophomore calculus and differential equations students to demonstrate secant lines approaching a tangent line.
Require students to use a Java applet as part of a homework assignment to develop their mathematical understanding.
Example:Hypothesis Test for a Mean prompts users to input values and provides feedback and hints when incorrect values have been entered. Users practice accepting or rejecting the null hypothesis and are given a description of one-tailed and two-tailed tests.
Require students to use learning materials for drill and practice to help them master a skill or procedure.
Example: The learning material Graphing the line y=mx+b gives the student the equation y = mx + b and first asks the student to move the line to the correct y-intercept and then rotate for the correct slope.
Require students to use learning materials as a tutorial in which they learn specific new information and concepts.
Example: The Symmetry and Tilings tutorial at the ScienceU--Geometry Center is an excellent introduction to these concepts.
Require students to use learning materials as a Copyright 1997- resource in which they are given the opportunity to explore math history or information on a specific topic.
Example:MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive contains a wealth of well-written and detailed information on a variety of math history topics as well as on biographies of mathematicians.
Example: Have students investigage some of the proofs of the Pythagoream Theorem posted on Cut-the-Knot! (under Geometry/Pythagoras' Theorem--43 proofs)
Encourage students to use MERLOT materials as a reference.
Example:Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics is an encyclopedia of mathematics that contains thousands of well-written and illustrated explanations of mathematical concepts.
Require students to work in pairs and use a Java appletto increase their understanding of a mathematical concept.
Example: Have students work together to explore dynamical systems through the use of the Web Diagram Applet
