5 July 1999 Vol. 4, No. 27
THE MATH FORUM INTERNET NEWS
Platonic Realms Mini-Texts | Math for the Visually Impaired |
Software - HENSA
PLATONIC REALMS MINI-TEXTS
http://www.mathacademy.com/platonic_realms/minitext/minihome.html
Short articles written for a general audience, covering
math topics at an introductory level. Contents include:
NUMBER
"What is 'How Many?'" - basic set theory, natural numbers,
integers, and rational, irrational, and real numbers
INFINITY
"You Can't Get There From Here" - historical background
of infinity, Cantor's set theory, and an introductory
discussion of cardinality
STUDYING MATH
"Coping with Math Anxiety" - social and educational roots,
some widespread myths about learning math, and possible
strategies for overcoming math anxiety
"Writing for a Math Class" - for teachers, a discussion
of possible formats and assessment, with sample lessons;
for students, tips on approaching a written assignment,
with formatting samples (text and citations)
VISUAL MATH
"The Mathematical Art of M. C. Escher" - tessellations,
polyhedra, the shape and logic of space, and the concept
of self-reference
The Platonic Realms site also offers a Math Encyclopedia,
Quotes, a Links Library, and a Book Forum:
http://www.mathacademy.com/platonic_realms/Platohom.html
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TEACHING MATH TO VISUALLY IMPAIRED STUDENTS - Susan Osterhaus
http://www.tsbvi.edu/math/
Questions and answers offering teaching strategies for
improving the mathematical understanding of visually impaired
students. Particular challenges addressed are:
- solving quadratic equations
- geometric constructions
- transformations, line symmetry, and tessellations
- linear measure, perimeter, and area
Other topics include math education and Nemeth, the American
math and science braille code; tactile math graphics
(graphs); the abacus, calculators, and other math tools; and
math resources such as publications, vendors, and people and
places. You may also download a computerized Nemeth Code
tutor for Windows:
http://www.tsbvi.edu/math/math-resources.htm#Download
These pages form part of an extensive site provided by the
Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSVBI):
http://www.tsbvi.edu/
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For a collection of sites of general interest to physically
challenged students, see the Math Forum's page of links:
http://mathforum.org/library/ed_topics/contexts_disabled/
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HIGHER EDUCATION NATIONAL SOFTWARE ARCHIVES (HENSA)
Joint Information Systems Committee,
Higher Education Funding Councils, UK
http://www.hensa.ac.uk/
A national service that maintains copies of electronic
archives from all over the world, providing access to a
wide range of up-to-date software and other material.
The service is designed to help those using the UNIX
operating system as well as those using personal computers,
personal digital assistants (PDAs), and other platforms.
Search or browse the archives to find mathematics and
science programs to download. For shortcuts to math,
see HENSA's page produced in collaboration with
CTI Mathematics at the University of Birmingham:
http://mic2.hensa.ac.uk//subject/Mathematics/
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Discussion Groups http://mathforum.org/discussions/
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Send comments to the Math Forum Internet Newsletter editors
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