The UTMOST Project (Undergraduate Teaching in Mathematics with Open Software and Textbooks) is coupling the use of Sage - comprehensive free open source mathematics software - with existing free open textbooks, to make it possible for faculty and institutions to more easily bring the power of mathematics software to their students. Authors of open source software and open textbooks provide licenses that permit free copying and editing of their work, allowing others to adapt or extend them to suit their needs or make improvements. A major project activity is to convert existing open textbooks into web-based dynamic e-texts that integrate traditional mathematical exposition with Sage code and hands-on demonstrations. The intellectual merit of this project lies in its use of the innovative Sage environment and its active community of users and practitioners. Eight diverse undergraduate institutions are helping to test and refine these materials using a comprehensive, professional evaluation procedure. The main goal driving this project is to create technical and pedagogical tools and methods that greatly simplify the deployment and use of powerful software to increase learning and experimentation in undergraduate mathematics. The potential broader impacts of this project are strong given the distributed nature of both development and deployment.
Project UTMOST was undertaken to demonstrate that open software such as Sage (a computer algebra system), open textbooks, open standards and open licenses has the potential to transform the teaching and learning of undergraduate mathematics. For the institution, the instructor and the student, the cost and time-consuming inconveniences of commercial software and textbooks are removed. Furthermore, the essential nature of open software and textbooks means that curricular decisions and needs can drive development, with the classroom teacher working closely or actually doing the software development or writing textbook materials. Leveraging these inherent advantages of an open approach to software and text, the promise of mathematical software for education can be fully realized by faculty and students. With support from the National Science Foundation, Project UTMOST has developed the Sage cell server, the SageMathCloud, MathBook XML and helped support the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) Open Textbook Initiative. The Sage cell server allows web pages, textbooks, ebooks, online homework, and other instructional materials to seamlessly embed live Sage computations. The SageMathCloud is a robust, scalable web application that provides a collaborative scientific computing environment in the cloud. Users can edit all types of files, use a command line terminal, chat or video conference, and compute with Sage. MathBook XML is an author-friendly standard for authoring textbooks and other materials in a structured way, enabling multiple output formats, especially electronic forms that leverage the use of SageMathCloud, the Sage Cell Server, and other computational tools. The AIM Open Textbook Initiative is an Editorial Board, composed of experienced mathematicians and authors that evaluate completed open textbooks, and also assist authors of promising open textbooks in development. To gain a better understanding how Sage and open source materials influence the teaching and learning of mathematics and Project UTMOST created test sites and held a Sage Educational Days workshop series to acquaint both novice and experienced Sage users with using Sage and open source materials in the classroom.
