9455618 Herman Mathematics educators from three quite different institutions of higher learning -Grinnell College, The University of Washington, and Seattle Central Community College -- are jointly developing an interactive linear algebra text. This text is being organized in clusters of individual modules to facilitate its adaptation to many different curricula. The main goals of the project are: 1) to help students develop their geometric intuition about the concepts of linear algebra; 2) to deepen their understanding of the algebraic formulations of these concepts and strengthen their ability to manipulate them; and 3) to help students gain an appreciation of how the concepts and methods of linear algebra are applied. The text is being constructed using Maple V, enhanced by a supplementary package with superior text-handing and screen-layout capabilities. The text is being designed to support collaborative learning and writing to learn. Many exercises encourage experimentation and exploration and many will ask for written hypotheses and conclusions. The entire text will be made available through the Mathematics Archives and hence will be readily available to all by ftp, gopher, and MOSAIC. In addition to being appropriate for all students majoring in scientific, engineering, and mathematics, the textual materials are particularly appropriate for use with students preparing for careers as secondary mathematics teachers and are being tested with preservice teachers at all three institutions.
