Project partner(s) interested in/tolerant of math education?

Hey! So I’m interested in putting together a project that offers a tangible means of interacting with mathematical representations (a graph, diagram, geometrical object, etc.). A main role for the computing part of this project would be to handle calculations so that users can focus on qualitative patterns and relationships. By backgrounding computation, my hope is that this project would make targeted mathematics concepts an accessible consequence of the designed physical interaction.

A few ideas so far (not wedded to any one, happy to consider more):

  1. An interactive graph where users could bend, move, or rotate a physical object representing a function. The corresponding equation for that function would update in real time. Could maybe be contextualized as a roller-coaster building game.
  2. Mirrored Spirograph (perhaps more aligned with art). Interface is that of a typical Spirograph, but users could choose to have the image reflected along various axes (as through mirrors, but electronically, perhaps in different colors or with different time delays/effects).
  3. A triangular frame with sides that lengthen/shorten and corners that rotate through a variety of angles. By automatically calculating properties of that triangle (area, perimeter, trigonometric functions), users could explore the impact of certain deformations on various properties. For this one, the motivating Object(ive) needs some work…

If any of these ideas sound interesting to you (or if this sounds like an avenue you’d like to think about together), please let me know!

-Leah

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