Mathematica Courseware Grants
- To: mathgroup at christensen.cybernetics.net
- Subject: [mg263] Mathematica Courseware Grants
- From: info (Wolfram Research)
- Date: Thu, 01 Dec 1994 14:17:31 -0600
There are two new Mathematica grant programs for educators developing Mathematica-based courseware and application packages. The grants are designed specifically to support the efforts of those who are developing Mathematica-based materials that can be shared among professors and high school teachers at academic institutions throughout the world. University and high school educators and students make up approximately half the worldwide community of Mathematica users. By encouraging and supporting educators in their efforts to explore new teaching methods using Mathematica, Wolfram Research has always taken an active role in enriching educational excellence within technical and scientific disciplines. The creation of these new grant programs exemplifies the company9s commitment to education. High School Grant Program The High School Grant Program is open to high school mathematics teachers who plan to incorporate Mathematica into the curriculum for classroom use. Mathematica has been used successfully in many high schools to teach math courses at various levels, including algebra, geometry, pre-calculus, and calculus. Its use among high school students continues to increase as more and more school districts focus on bringing technology into the classroom. Grant recipients are expected to use Mathematica and to supervise their students9 use of the software during the 1995-96 school year. In addition to creating interactive problems that students can complete either in class or as homework assignments, recipients are also encouraged to use Mathematica as a lecture aid to illustrate examples. Wolfram Research will provide a free three-day Mathematica training course, Mathematica High School Version licenses for the grant recipient9s school computer lab, and technical and courseware development support. The Mathematica High School Version is a full-function version of the software that comes with free technical support and a complete set of documentation, including a copy of Mathematica: The Student Book, an adaptation of Stephen Wolfram9s Mathematica: A System for Doing Mathematics by Computer. Visiting Scholar Grant Program The Visiting Scholar Grant Program is open to both high school and university educators who are experienced with Mathematica. Applicants must have already begun working on Mathematica-based courseware or an application package. Grant recipients each receive a copy of Mathematica for any platform and are invited to spend up to eight weeks at Wolfram Research9s corporate headquarters in Champaign, Illinois during 1995 to work toward completing their projects. Remuneration to cover travel and living expenses will be provided by Wolfram Research. Advanced Mathematica training, office space, and technical and project development support will also be provided. Visiting scholars will have the opportunity to consult directly with Wolfram Research staff and to collaborate with other grant recipients during those eight weeks. Professors writing Mathematica application packages use the system9s versatile and powerful programming language to extend Mathematica by creating specialized functions for a wide range of technical fields. Existing application packages focus on engineering, signal processing, visualization, geometry, control systems, optics, finance, statistics, and many other areas. Many of these are available free of charge from Wolfram Research, while others are distributed commercially. Grant Application Guidelines Grant applications are available from Wolfram Research, 100 Trade Center Drive, Champaign, IL 61820-7237, USA; phone: 217-398-0700; fax: 217-398-0747; or email: grants at wri.com. Completed applications are due by February 15, 1995. Visiting Scholar Grant awards will be announced on March 15, 1995, and High School Grant awards on April 15, 1995. The grant review panel consists of Wolfram Research management and members of the academic community. Award recipients are expected to submit progress reports regarding their project development during the 1995-1996 academic year. For recipients who are developing courseware, reports should include results of student interaction with Mathematica and with the courseware being developed. A final project summary and the completed project (courseware materials for a full course or an application package with complete documentation) must be submitted by the end of the 1995-1996 academic year. Wolfram Research reserves the right to distribute submitted material.