A practical approach to inquiry-based learning in linear algebra

Linear algebra has become one of the most useful fields of mathematics since last decade, yet students still have trouble seeing the connection between some of the abstract concepts and real-world applications. In this article, we propose the use of thought-provoking questions in lesson designs to a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of mathematical education in science and technology Vol. 42; no. 2; pp. 245 - 259
Main Author Chang, J.-M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Taylor & Francis Group 01.03.2011
Taylor & Francis, Ltd
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Algebra
applications
Classroom Communication
College Mathematics
college-level
feature extraction
image processing
Inquiry
Inquiry method
inquiry-based learning
Linear algebra
Mathematical Logic
Mathematics Instruction
Matrices
matrix multiplications
orthogonal projection
Relevance (Education)
Student Motivation
Teacher Student Relationship
Teaching Methods
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Summary:Linear algebra has become one of the most useful fields of mathematics since last decade, yet students still have trouble seeing the connection between some of the abstract concepts and real-world applications. In this article, we propose the use of thought-provoking questions in lesson designs to allow two-way communications between instructors and students as well as the use of simple applications to motivate learning and keep students engaged. An illustrative lesson for learning matrix multiplication and a lesson for understanding the practical meaning of orthogonal projection that are motivated by applications in image processing are presented along with a ready-to-use MATLAB code for completeness.
ISSN:0020-739X
1464-5211
DOI:10.1080/0020739X.2010.519795