Vol. 3 No. 2 (2005)

Published 2005 December 1

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Articles

  • Equivalence and range of quadratic forms
    123-129
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    5
    If two quadratic forms are equivalent, that is, if there is a linear transformation with integer coefficients and determinant 1 or −1 which takes one form to the other, then their ranges are the same and also their determinants are the same. The result of the paper is that for positive definite binary quadratic forms the converse is also true. Namely, if two positive definite binary quadratic forms of the same determinant have the same range, then they are equivalent. The arguments are guided by geometric considerations.
  • Some aspects of teaching the technology of designing and planning information systems in health care
    131-144
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    7
    In this article, we use the well-known ideas of technology in designing of new information systems in health care. We explain the principle that "making a health care application" "is more than writing a program", "it requires a strong co-operation and continuous contact" between the system analysts and users. The concept of the information system must contain the work of the whole system, which means that the planning and designing process should focus on the services, which really support the customer's functions. It has to be compatible with the earlier information systems based on several decade's experience. In this paper we use the most important elements of system theory. First of all we explain why it is important to take into account the behaviour of those, who operate the information system, and also their habits and way of thinking when planning then information system. We emphasise that it is importance to overview the whole information system and its functionality because it is a major aspect of the system planning.
    This paper can be used in university courses especially in teaching SDM, SSADM, Martin, etc. technologies for information system analysts, program designers and programmers.
  • Besondere Punkte der Euler-Geraden
    145-157
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    5
    In the following article the concepts "Euler line of a triangle" and "radical centre of three circles" are connected. In this way we could find some relations between special points of a triangle (orthocentre H, centre of gravity S, circumcentreM, midpoint F of the nine-point circle) and the radical centres of special triples of circles.
  • Eine geometrische Interpretation der Ausgleichsrechnung
    159-173
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    6
    Using real examples of applied mathematics in upper secondary school one has do deal with inaccurate measures. This will lead to over constrained systems of linear equations. This paper shows an instructive approach which uses methods of descriptive and computer aided geometry to get a deeper insight into the area of calculus of observations. Using a qualified interpretation one can solve problems of calculus of observations with elementary construction techniques of descriptive geometry, independent of the norm one uses.
  • Über einen allgemeinen Übungsbegriff bei verschiedenen Unterrichtsmethoden in der Planung des Mathematikunterrichtes
    175-201
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    12
    Practice is important in the education of mathematics but is neclected in the didactic of mathematics. One of the reasons is that practice is often defined too "narrowly" and the definitions of practice have in most cases an obscure background theory. In the article a general definition of practice is given, which – in contrast to the usual definitions – views practice from the point of the pupils (practice means activity of pupils). By utilising this definition consequences will be drawn. These consequences serve as for the more exact planning of practice in education as for the analysis of the dependency of practice from teachingsmethods.
    In the second part an example will be presented for planning together practice and lesson, in two different teachingsmethods (traditionel, problemsolving). The analysis of both worksheets (one for each method, identical teachingsmaterial) was made on the basis of authors practise in lessons i.e. her own concepts and the experience with pupils at a class 5. On the basis of the expectable solutions is specified – using a criteriacatalog – what was practised.
    The analysis of practice leads further to the examination of above mentioned dependency from teachingsmethods.
  • Research on IT language use at a company
    203-219
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    10
    The aim of the research of the IT language, used in the written documents of a company, is to contribute to the creation of a (mono- or bilingual) dictionary or encyclopaedia available for the public on the Internet, serving, among others, as a reference tool for the unified, controlled and unambiguous use of IT terms for students at various educational levels. To this ongoing work, the participation and cooperation of a panel of experts of different competences, linguists as well as IT experts, is indispensable.
    The methods of corpus linguistics were used to carry out the research. The IT terms were separated from the texts and then a concordance software was used to see the environment of the IT words and phrases in which they occur. So their morphological analysis became possible.
    The results of the research showed that a great number of Hungarian morphological language use problems stem from the way the IT terms are used in the documents. This paper lists, groups, analyses these phenomena.
    The conclusions of the author are: (1) If such an Internet dictionary is used generally and consulted when e.g. somebody wants to write a composition or essay, translate an article, write a newspaper article, a scientific publication or a textbook to be taught at schools of different types and levels, etc. most of the communication noises could be filtered out. (2) At the same time it could promote the use of adequate (both in linguistic and technical meaning) Hungarian terms eliminating the "Hunglish" usage. (3) It could also contribute to the prevailing use of the relevant Hungarian terminology. Such a dictionary would be indispensable, not only in educational and industrial environments but in the electronic and traditional media as well. Last but not least, it could raise the level of different teaching materials (textbooks, e-materials, etc.) used in public and higher education.
  • "Upperview" algorithm design in teaching computer science in high schools
    221-240
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    11
    In this paper we are going to present a teaching/learning method and suggest a syllabus that help the high school students look at the algorithm design strategies from a so called "upperview": greedy, backtracking, divide and conquer, dynamic programming. The goal of the suggested syllabus is, beyond the presentation of the techniques, to offer the students a view that reveals them the basic and even the slight principal differences and similarities between the strategies. In consensus with the Comenius principle this is essential, if we want to master this field of programming ("To teach means scarcely anything more than to show how things differ from one another in their different purposes, forms, and origins. ... Therefore, he who differentiates well teaches well.").
  • The Project Method and investigation in school mathematics
    241-255
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    9
    The Project Method (PM) is becoming more common in the teaching of mathematics. Most of the time, Project Method means solving open and relatively wide formulated problems for the application of particular mathematical topics and the solving of everyday life problems.
    At present many experts in the theory of teaching mathematics advocate teaching activities as the characteristic for most mathematical work in the classroom. Thus, there is a question: whether it is possible or eventual desirable to use the PM for solving genuine mathematical problems. This paper deals with this question and discusses the connection between the PM and investigation of new mathematical knowledge for students. Our experience has shown that the PM in connection with investigations can be a useful and effective approach to teaching mathematics.
  • Fuzzy Datalog with background knowledge
    257-281
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    4
    In this paper we give a possible model for handling uncertain information. The concept of fuzzy knowledge-base will be defined as a triplet of a background knowledge defined by the similarity of predicates and terms; a deduction mechanism: a fuzzy Datalog program, and a decoding set of the program, which help us to determine the uncertainty level of the results.
  • Informatics as a particular field of education
    283-294
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    11
    Informatics education can be discussed at various levels. There is informatics education at the university, there is professional informatics training and there is public informatics education. In the following article we are going to deal with the latter, that is we are going to discuss what areas of informatics should be introduced to students within the frame of the informatics subject in primary and secondary education.
    Knowledge in connection with informatics can be grouped from different points of view. We consider the following points to be acceptable: according to scopes of knowledge. [1, 2]
  • The mathematics teacher trainee as an assistant teacher
    295-306
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    6
    The experiment described in the article aims to answer two needs at once: that of assistant teachers in schools, and that of a more practical training of mathematics teachers. The answer suggested is a model of school experience where mathematics teacher trainees work as assistant teachers in schools. An attempt to realize this model is described, and it is evaluated positively.
  • Proof without words: four circles
    307-309
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    1
    Theorem. Let O, P and Q be three points on a line, with P lying between O and Q. Semicircles are drawn on the same side of the line with diameters OP, PQ and OQ. An arbelos is the figure bounded by these three semicircles. Draw the perpendicular…
  • Proof without words
    311-312
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    1
    Let us prove: If we add 1 to the product of four consecutive natural numbers, we get a square number:…
  • Report on "Problem Solving in Mathematics Education": ProMath 6 Conference, 8–11 September, 2005, Debrecen, Hungary
    313-319
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    9
    The sixth ProMath Conference was organized at the University of Debrecen (Hungary) in the year 2005. There were 12 presentations. After a short historical introduction we present the 12 abstracts written by the authors.