Edmund A. Lamagna



eal@cs.uri.edu



Department of Computer Science

The University of Rhode Island

Kingston, Rhode Island USA 02881





While symbolic algebra systems present new opportunities for teaching 

and learning mathematics, the available software has often been 

difficult for students to use.  We have developed a unique 

computational environment called NEWTON that is tailored for novice 

users studying introductory calculus.  NEWTON runs on Macintosh 

computers and consists of a user- friendly interface to Maple, 

supplemented by an extensive library of our own Maple code.  Students, 

however, do not interact with Maple directly and need know nothing of 

Maple's syntax and command structure.



Students using NEWTON can examine interactively symbolic, numerical, 

and graphical representations of mathematical objects.  The system 

features an easy-to-use mathematics editor, selection of commands from 

menus, and special dialogs to illustrate important computational 

techniques.  Worksheets can contain a mixture of formulas, text, and 

graphs, thereby providing support for authoring interactive electronic 

documents.  NEWTON has been used to teach numerical analysis, as well 

as both semesters of introductory calculus, with the aid of electronic 

documents.

.