Oct 03 2008
Flashy Maths
Bakhoum (2008) has studied in some detail the effect of using flash animations within a mathematics classroom. On average 65% of the students achieved better scores when using flash animations whilst 98% of students believed they has a better understanding.
One creative example presented examines the formation of an understanding of velocity. The user of the program drags a car along the top of the screen at variable pace and a distance verse time graph is produces. This would enable a student to examine the variation and “steepness” of such a graph with alterations in the speed of the car.
Whilst in this study, the primary creators of the animations were the teachers; I can see no reason why students cannot create their own animations or just use the teachers own creations to build there understanding of mathematics.
A great example of a Java Appelet allows a student to examine the displacement, velocity and acceleration graphs of a man as the user drags him along the screen.
For your own knowledge, tutorials on creating flash are available at Flash and Maths .
Bakhoum, E. (2008). Animating an equation: a guide to using FLASH in mathematics education. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 39(5), 637-655, retrieved August 31, 2008 from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.lib.uts.edu.au
Create a free edublog to get your own comment avatar (and more!)
[...] just read Matthew’s blog on his discovery of Flash Maths . I visited the site and found it most helpful. There are a [...]