14. starptautiskā konference 2012 - Latvijas Jūras akadēmija

Proceedings of 14th International conference „Maritime Transport and Infrastructure - 2012”Survey of internet resourcesMany various websites and internet resources (IR) can be found as help for solving calculusrelated problems - lecture notes, exercises, software programs, video materials, interactive applets,encyclopaedias etc. The majority of IR is in English. Use of them can stimulate not onlycomprehension of calculus, but also can expand language skills.Students can use different interactive software to complete their homework and learn calculustopics. Such useful software as GeoGebra, C.a.R., Geonext [5, 6, 7] etc. has free access and isapplicable for geometrical calculations, constructions of shapes and solids. Additionally to well knowncommercial software as Maple, MathCad, Matlab, Mathematica that are popular at many universities,colleges, high schools, there are also many freeware computer programs available. SAGE [8] includescomputer algebra and two or three dimensional plotting of objects; SMath Studio [9] is freemathematical program with "paper"-like interface and numerous computing features and is like theMathCad design. That gives the possibility to calculate integrals or derivatives symbolically ornumerically. Matrix calculations are available too. The construction of functions’ graphs is simple andwell designed. The following software is created to solve different problems of linear algebra, vectoralgebra and for other precalculus topics: Linear Algebra, CMAT – Matrix Calculator [10, 11].Wolfram Alpha is an interactive website [12] that allows free form information entry with furtherinformation interpretation to match possible operations developed by Wolfram Research group. Inrelation to current topic, Wolfram Alpha offers solutions with steps for calculus tasks, such asderivatives and integrals, as well as solutions for other topics, even ones that are not related tomathematics. Wolfram Demonstration Project [13] gives the opportunity to investigate a lot of visualexamples of mathematical problems. The demonstrations run in Mathematica 6 or in Wolfram CDFPlayer is a free modified version of Wolfram's Mathematica.Free Math Help [14] is a website that includes lessons, a discussion forum, solution examplesof math problems with detailed explanations and an interactive applet to solve the user’s givenproblems. The website Math Serfer (in Russian) [15] solves calculus tasks online. The specificity ofthis website is to show the solution of problems step by step. To do this, one must firstly select thetype of task, and then insert the task data, after doing so you will get the task solution on the screen.Khan Academy [16] is an educational website, created in 2006 by Salman Khan, an Americaneducator. This website offers high quality education on any topic free of cost, including mathematics,history, medicine, physics etc. Respectively, it offers video lectures uploaded to a domain calledYoutube, where these videos are also available. Along with lectures, the website offers practice tasks.The website contains over 3000 video lectures and receives daily positive feedback from users of allages, since it has no limitations and has proven itself as an easy and effective learning aid for peopleall over the world.Many mathematical manuals, encyclopedias, books, lecture notes are located in the internet.Wide online library is on the Moscow Center of Continuous Math Education website [17]. There it ispossible to read books online – V.M.Tihomirov “Differential Calculus”, A.J.Hinchin “8 Lessons onCalculus”, G.Polya, G.Sege ”Problems and Theorems of Calculus” and many other excellent books.One can find lecture notes with numerous examples of how to implement calculus to real lifeproblems, for example, the lecture notes of Paul Dawkins [18], professor of Lamar University.Correctly explained calculus topics can be found in the book “Introduction to Real Analysis” byW.F.Trench.ConclusionsThe enquiry was the turning point of this work, which showed a necessity in learningmethods improvement. Clearly, material that is obtained by students during lectures is insufficient toget a good understanding of the subject of calculus and become fluent. Inadequate student activityrelating to this topic, as well as lack of new material learning skills has resulted in such results, as theones listed above.88