SIMIODE Director's Blog - Fitting It All In
Fitting it all in – Curriculum Crunch or Not!
We recently re-examined the 3" by 5" feedback cards we collected from attendees at our JMM 2016 SIMIODE Open House and we share them and our thoughts with you.
Under the theme "Issues to Overcome" we found the following:
- How do you fit it in? What do you drop?
- Do your colleague resent you rocking the boat?
- I would like to try but I don’t know what to do.
One concern which arises is the issue of “coverage” and what will happen to the technique coverage in differential equations when modeling is used.
Karen Bliss and Jessica Libertini in their article, “Using Applications to Motivate the Learning of Differential Equations,” in Advances in the Mathematical Sciences: Research from the 2015 Association for Women in Mathematics Symposium. Weisbaden GERMANY: Springer International Publishers, have demonstrated in their applied mathematics differential equation course for engineering students at Virginia Military Institute that the introduction of modeling enhances the learning of the mathematics and facilitates more in depth coverage as well as maintaining coverage.
Further, Keith Stroyan of the University of Iowa has said that he has never had a student comment on a technique of solution method years after a course, but students ALWAYS remember projects. He quotes a student, “You know, these course projects are difficult, but I understand. They are the answer to the question, `What good is it?’ ”
Indeed, COMAP for years has produced modeling materials which enable curriculum advance without loss of content.
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