Recognizing the need for a greater emphasis on active and collaborative learning and a greater emphasis on inquiry and discovery in the mathematics curriculum, the Department of Mathematics has set the objective of introducing computer laboratory experiences into several upper division mathematics courses. Two major goals of this project are 1) to ensure that all mathematics majors have the opportunity to develop the experimental and computational skills required for success in later course work and in a broad range of career settings, and 2) to ensure that Science, Engineering and Technology students with majors outside mathematics have a better opportunity to understand the way that mathematics affects their chosen discipline. At present our undergraduate computer lab facility is inadequate for the desired enhancements This has already been seen in our first step, the integration of a computer experimentation component in the first course in differential equations. The Department of Mathematics wishes to also implement computer experimentation in additional courses in Probability, Fourier Analysis, and Differential Equations during the next two years. Significant changes are envisioned in these courses in the next two years. To this end, the Department of Mathematics seeks support for a major upgrade of its currently available equipment.
