Southwest Baptist University News Release
Contact: Sharina Smith, Office of Marketing & Communications
BOLIVAR, Mo. – Southwest Baptist University Professor and Chair of the Mathematics Department Dr. Kevin Hopkins recently presented at the Kansas City Regional Mathematics Technology EXPO (http://www.kcmathtechexpo.org/). His session was titled "Calculus Animations with Geogebra".
According to Dr. Hopkins, the abstract for the session was "Geogebra is a free, web-based software that does dynamic geometry and graphing. The dynamic feature of the software allows for animations that can illustrate a variety of topics in Calculus. This talk will show some of the animations the speaker has used in Calculus, but also feature some instruction on how to create such animations.” Dr. Hopkins said attendees were impressed by the ability of the software to produce dynamic illustrations and by the "on the fly" creation of some animations for use in their classes.
Dr. Hopkins also presented at the Southwest Missouri District Association of Mathematics Teachers Fall conference on the campus of Missouri State University in Springfield. This was the 2nd Annual Drive-In Conference and the theme was "Encouraging Reasoning in the Mathematics Classroom."
Dr. Hopkins also presented at the Southwest Missouri District Association of Mathematics Teachers Fall conference on the campus of Missouri State University in Springfield. This was the 2nd Annual Drive-In Conference and the theme was "Encouraging Reasoning in the Mathematics Classroom."
Dr. Hopkins presented two sessions - one for elementary teachers and one for middle school teachers - entitled "Math Contest Probability." An abstract of the session was "Math contests are one way to challenge mathematically gifted students. Probability questions, in particular, allow for consideration from a variety of viewpoints, so can open the door to many possible discussions. The ideas of probability occur in society in a variety of ways. Probability questions are typically easy to state, easy to think about and easy to simulate, but often the results are unpredictable."
At the SWMDAMT conference they also announced the group's nominations for the MCTM (Missouri Council of Teachers of Mathematics) Outstanding Teacher of the Year Awards. Dr. Hopkins was selected by the Executive Board to be the group's post-secondary nomination. Other groups in the state can also make nominations for the MCTM Awards (http://moctm.semo.edu/awardsscholarships/awards_scholarships.htm). The MCTM's award will be presented in December at the Annual Conference in Columbia. Dr. Hopkins will present at that conference with a session titled "PreCalculus Animations with Geogebra."
At the SWMDAMT conference they also announced the group's nominations for the MCTM (Missouri Council of Teachers of Mathematics) Outstanding Teacher of the Year Awards. Dr. Hopkins was selected by the Executive Board to be the group's post-secondary nomination. Other groups in the state can also make nominations for the MCTM Awards (http://moctm.semo.edu/awardsscholarships/awards_scholarships.htm). The MCTM's award will be presented in December at the Annual Conference in Columbia. Dr. Hopkins will present at that conference with a session titled "PreCalculus Animations with Geogebra."
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Southwest Baptist University is a leader among private universities in truly integrating Christ-centered academic pursuits with comprehensive professional programs at an affordable price. Since 1878, the faculty and staff have created a caring, academic community to prepare students to be servant leaders in a global society. The University has been named one of America’s Best Christian Colleges® for 14 consecutive years, one of America’s 100 Best College Buys® for 15 consecutive years, and it has been named among institutions with America’s Best College Scholarships ® for the past four years by Institutional Research and Evaluation, Inc. For more information, visit www.SBUniv.edu.
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