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• The study of sequences defined by a first order recursion by means of a pocket calculator

  231-240

  Zoltán Tuzson

  Views:

  9

  This paper will present the way we can use a simple pocket calculator to teach mathematics. Namely, a pocket calculator can be very useful to study the properties of sequences defined by first order recursion (e.g. monotonicity, boundedness and convergence) and to gain a deeper understanding.

• CAS-aided visualization in LATEX documents for mathematical education

  1-18

  Masataka Kaneko

  Takayuki Abe

  Kenji Fukazawa

  Masayoshi Sekiguchi

  Yuuki Tadokoro

  Satoshi Yamashita

  Setsuo Takato

  Views:

  9

  We have been developing KETpic as a macro package of a CAS for drawing fine LATEX-pictures, and we use it efficiently in mathematical education. Printed materials for mathematics classes are prepared under several constraints, such as "without animation", "mass printings", "monochrome", and "without halftone shadings". Because of these constraints, visualization in mathematical education tends to be unsatisfactory. Taking full advantages of LATEX and CAS, KETpic enables us to provide teaching materials with figures which are effective for mathematical education. The effects are summarized as follows:
  (1) The plottings of KETpic are accurate due to CAS, and enable students to deduce mathematical laws.
  (2) KETpic can provide adequate pictures for students' various interest. For example, when some students who understand a matter try to modify it, KETpic can give them appropriate and experimental figures.
  (3) Even though CAS can draw 3D-figures beautifully and automatically, it is expensive for mass printings and the figures are sometimes not easy to understand. Oppositely, 3D-graphics by KETpic are monochrome, but are richly expressive.
  In this paper, we give various examples of LATEX-pictures which we drew by using KETpic. For instance, the picture which is used in order to explain the convergence theorem of Fourier series makes it easier for students to understand the idea that function series converge to another function. Also the picture of skeleton is endowed with clear perspective. KETpic gives us great potential for the teaching of combinatorial mathematics. Through these examples, we claim that KETpic should have great possibilities of rich mathematical expressions under the constraints above mentioned.

• Une modélisation d'un zoom au moyen de microscopes virtuels

  319-335

  André Antibi

  Jacques Bair

  Valérie Henry

  Views:

  9

  In this paper, we explain how a computer works when "zooms" are made around a point on a planar curve. This modelisation leads to an easy and algorithmic method to find the (vertical or not vertical) tangents for the studied curve.