Institution
Clayton State University
Abstract
Early introduction of challenging and meaningful problems can significantly enhance learning. In a beginning ODEs course, many instructors shy away from “messy modeling problems” because they often require significant numerical work to get meaningful results. But with the chebfun add-ons for MATLAB, much of the numerical “overhead” for solving these problems can be lessened or even eliminated. I will briefly demonstrate the use of the chebfun add-ons and then discuss some examples of challenging modeling exercises which can be completed as lab projects in a first ODEs course with minimal additional support beyond the typical course material. (The chebfun add-ons are open-source and available freely from their authors at www.chebfun.org)
Introducing Challenging Modeling Problems Early with Chebfun Add-Ons for MATLAB
Early introduction of challenging and meaningful problems can significantly enhance learning. In a beginning ODEs course, many instructors shy away from “messy modeling problems” because they often require significant numerical work to get meaningful results. But with the chebfun add-ons for MATLAB, much of the numerical “overhead” for solving these problems can be lessened or even eliminated. I will briefly demonstrate the use of the chebfun add-ons and then discuss some examples of challenging modeling exercises which can be completed as lab projects in a first ODEs course with minimal additional support beyond the typical course material. (The chebfun add-ons are open-source and available freely from their authors at www.chebfun.org)
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