| Project | Using Function Probe for Trigonometric Applications |
| Contact | Jere Confrey The University of Texas |
| jere@mail.utexas.edu | |
| Project description | We are beginning a project investigating the development of trigonometric thinking. The project will have a number of parts including a careful examination of trigonmetric thinking as it is used in graphic arts, semiconductor work and sound machines. In addition, we plan to examine critically the understanding of trigonometric reasoning in students in advanced courses. Finally, after undertaking these initial studies of reasoning currently in successful students and in experts who use the ideas explicitly and implicitly, we plan to build a connecting and enhancing series of computer tools and interactive diagrams to bridge the divide and to work with teachers in our implementation site to embed these within existing state curriculum frameworks. In our demo, we will show a simple and inital application of our software Function Probe to web-based data for sunrise, midday and sunset and illustrate how the visualization tools of the grapher and the table capacity can lead to more effective understanding of transformations of trigonometric functions. |