On Some Attempts to Verify the Effect of Using High-Quality Graphics in Mathematics Education

Abstract

AbstractIn this paper, we will show some of our attempts to verify the effect of using high-quality graphics in collegiate mathematics education through two types of experiments. In the first experiment, we gave a lesson on the law of logarithms usually done without using graphics. We used teaching materials containing graphics to give students some hints. To prepare the graphics, we utilized an extension of TeX capabilities for flexible page layout. Then we estimated the effects of the lesson through a statistical approach. In the second experiment, we detected the change of students’ brain activity by making behavioral observation and neuroimaging simultaneously. For this lesson, we chose the comparison of the degree of growth between two functions as the theme, and prepared some graphs for them. To generate these graphs, we utilized the programmability of the computer algebra system for automatically changing the scale. We showed them to three students and observed their responses. Simultaneously we monitored their brain activities through EEG (ElectroEncephaloGram) measurements. We observed that the judgment of these students changed when they saw a triggering figure, and some change in the trend of the EEG signal was observed at that time. From the results of these experiments, it is indicated that using effective figures in materials might have a great influence on learners’ reasoning processes.KeywordsgraphicsTeXcomputer algebra systembrain activity