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Science and Technology Sources on the Internet
Mathematics Education Resources on the Internet
Mathematics Librarian
Syracuse University Mathematics Library
mmdecarl@syr.edu
|| Scope || Starting Points || Online Bibliographic Databases || Online Reference Tools || Biographical and Historical Resources || Lesson Plans || Problems and Contests || Professional Societies || Discussion Groups || Professional Development || References ||
Audience, Scope & Methods
This guide is designed primarily for the mathematics educator, whether in the role of teacher or as the student in a college education program. The majority of resources included here focus on primary and secondary education, but many may easily apply to college level. Librarians will also find the databases, reference tools, and the biographic sites helpful. Because the number of Internet sites covering mathematics education is so vast, a guide to the most essential ones is useful. To illustrate this, a search on the Google search engine under "mathematics education" found 218,000 hits and over 2 million sites when searched without the quotes.Sections in this guide describe the principal Internet sites in each category that provide high quality information. These resources have been chosen based on currency and depth and breadth of coverage. All selected sites provide their resources freely and, with only two exceptions, are hosted by educational institutions, government offices, or non-profit organizations.
This guide updates and expands on previous math education bibliographies and focuses on the educator as researcher, as well as instructor. Resources were selected to facilitate the research of the educator and librarian. Links to math education online bibliographic databases, math reference tools, and professional development are included. Previous math education bibliographies, Brown & Murphy (2000), Haury & Zand (1996), and Ozgun-Koca (1998a), focus primarily on the educator as teacher and include resources for students and parents. Curriculum resources such as lesson plans, problems, and biographies are included, but more detail is provided here in the annotations, including comparative information and links. Quotes are used within the annotations to indicate that the information comes from the site's pages. Articles in the References section were also selected to provide information on related topics and print resources not covered in this webliography. The resources by Crowe & Zand (2000) and Roberts (2002) focus solely on mathematics and will facilitate finding online links to specific topics. Links to technology in the classroom are described in (Ozgun-Koca 1998b). The bibliography of web resources on the history of mathematics by Barrow-Green (1998) describes resources related to specific topics and people. It complements the historical resources described here. Articles by Brown & Murphy (2000) and Ozgun-Koca (1998a) each include a list of math education journals. Periodicals are not included here because most are not freely available.
The following sources were useful in finding math education sites: NCTM Newsletter "Web Bytes" column, Math Forum, Google, and Librarians Index to the Internet. Many resources were familiar to the author from years of maintaining a subject page in math education and working with faculty and graduate students in mathematics education.
Starting Points
The two most comprehensive Internet sites for mathematics education are Math Forum and ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education. They address current issues in math education and provide search engines for finding more information on the Internet. The ERIC Clearinghouse provides access to original research via the ERIC Database. Math Forum is a well-organized and searchable site for Internet information and links to key topics in mathematics. ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education
{http://www.ericse.org/mathindex.html}
The ERIC Clearinghouse for SMEE, which is part of the ERIC: Educational Resources Information Center is a "national information system designed to provide ready access to an extensive body of education-related literature." An integral part of ERIC is the {AskERIC} page, an "Ask the Expert" service. Users may submit their question to AskERIC and receive an answer from an expert at one of the ERIC Clearinghouses. Internet resources within AskERIC are the "Question Archive", the lesson plans database, and the ERIC Database. The ERIC Database which is freely available, is a major index for math education resources. It indexes journal articles, ERIC documents, books, theses, conference papers, and standards in all areas of education. The ERIC Clearinghouse for SMEE also provides the full-text of ERIC Digest articles, lists of journals in math education, news announcements, and links to Internet resources and professional societies' home pages. This site is easily navigated and includes a Google site search engine.
The ERIC Clearinghouse contract with the Department of Education expires in December 2003. A reorganization of the ERIC system is being considered that may substantially change ERIC services and expertise. The future of ERIC services are unknown at the time of publication.
Math Forum Internet Mathematics Library
http://mathforum.org/
This site identifies itself as the "leading center for mathematics and mathematics education on the Internet" and without any reservations I would agree that its coverage of math education is excellent. It contains a seemingly endless number of resources for teachers, students, and mathematicians in support of its mission to "enrich and support teaching and learning." Emphasis is placed on math education at the K - 12 level, but college level sources are not excluded. Separate sections focus on {Math Education Topics} and {Key Issues in Math}, with the latter including pointers to career information. The Math Library and Math Education Resources both link to hundreds of Internet pages. The "Resources" page is conveniently arranged by subject within grade level. Math Forum is well organized, but is so comprehensive that repeated searches are necessary to capture the full breadth of its coverage. The Quick Reference Sheet provides assistance and a navigational overview.
Online Bibliographic Databases
While most bibliographic databases are provided as fee-based services, both the MATHDI and ERIC databases may be used without a subscription. MATHDI has an international flavor with, more European journals than ERIC. Coverage differs as well. The scope of MATHDI is math and computer science education, while ERIC indexes all subject areas of education. Subscription databases researchers may also want to search include H.W. Wilson's Education Index and OCLC's Worldcat. ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) Database
http://www.eric.ed.gov/
The ERIC Database, which is freely available on the Internet, indexes over one million references to journal articles, ERIC documents, books, theses, conference papers, and standards published from 1966 to the present. In addition to "Basic" and "Advanced" Searches, the database may be browsed by "Topics Organized Hierarchically" or by "Topics Organized Alphabetically" at the {ERIC Search Page}.
MATHDI, Mathematics Didactics Database
http://www.emis.de/MATH/DI.html
MATHDI is the online version of International Reviews on Mathematical Education. This bibliographic database covers mathematics education and computer science at all education levels, including adult and teacher education, from 1976 to the present. It indexes journals, conference papers, books, reports, software, media, and non-conventional literature. Although the entire MathDI database is available online, only three results per search are returned without a subscription, so a narrowly defined search will work best. Nevertheless this is a valuable resource for citations not readily found elsewhere. The list of serials indexed by MATHDI may be browsed by journal title. MATHDI includes a section of its own articles on mathematics education, however the full-text is for subscribers only.
Online Reference Tools
As reference tools, these sites are aimed at educators, students and anyone needing encyclopedic or handbook information in mathematics. The Prime Mathematics Encyclopedia, Mathematical Atlas, and World of Mathematics, all provide encyclopedic information on mathematics topics at differing academic levels. Listed in order of increasing difficulty, the Prime Mathematics Encyclopedia is the most accessible. World of Mathematics is the most mathematical. Calculators Online and Dictionary of Units are interactive handbooks. Both resources include online calculators to perform operations and background information. The Prime Mathematics Encyclopedia
http://www.mathacademy.com/pr/prime/index.asp
The Prime Mathematics Encyclopedia is part of the Platonic Realms site. Users can browse topics alphabetically, using a sidebar guide to limit by subject and level if desired. To search for topics appropriate to pre-college level math, use the "elementary level" and "Basic Math" buttons. Entries include links to other terms within the encyclopedia and when available to an extended article for that topic. Most of the extended articles are written for the general reader. Platonic Realms site also includes a math quotes database. Although the Prime Mathematics Encyclopedia is freely available, the Platonic Realms site is a commercial site and does offer products for sale.
Mathematical Atlas A Gateway to Modern Mathematics
http://www.math.niu.edu/~rusin/known-math/
Mathematical Atlas is essentially an online encyclopedia containing "short articles, designed to provide an introduction to the areas of modern mathematics and pointers to further information" on a topic's history, software, textbooks, and applications. References and links to related online information are provided. Topics are arranged by the Mathematics Subject Classification scheme. I recommend using this subject scheme via the "browse" button as a navigational starting point rather than the "search" button that provides keyword searching. The latter method may cause the user to leave Mathematical Atlas because it links to resources both within and external to the site. The tour and help screen offer navigational aids. This encyclopedia offers an introduction to topics at a college level.
Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/
MathWorld is a comprehensive and animated Internet encyclopedia of mathematics that is continuously updated. An alphabetical index or keyword search engine may be used for finding information. Entries provide links to related topics within the World of Mathematics site. This is an advanced encyclopedia with entries displaying university level mathematics. Although this is a commercial site and does provide links to its products and services, it is done discreetly. Originally developed by Eric Weisstein, it is now hosted and sponsored by Wolfram Research, Inc.
Calculators Online Reference Center
http://www.martindalecenter.com/Calculators2.html
Containing over 16,000 hyperlinks to online calculators, the Calculator Center is part of Jim Martindale's Reference Desk. The calculator are grouped in four parts: "General", "Mathematics and Statistics", "Science", and "Engineering". In each section the calculators are arranged alphabetically within major subject topics. The user navigates the site through the table that lists all topics. The calculators visually demonstrate the action and allow interactive calculations. The Calculator Center is comprehensive, including basic mathematics calculation through advanced university mathematics, but by not providing a search engine for the calculators, this site is not easily navigated.
A Dictionary of Units
http://www.ex.ac.uk/cimt/dictunit/dictunit.htm
A Dictionary of Units "provides a summary of most of the units of measurement to be found in use around the world today (and a few of historical interest), together with the appropriate conversion factors needed to change them into a 'standard' unit of the SI." Includes online calculators to make the conversion. Each calculator comes with an encyclopedia-like entry of background information. An alphabetical list of units provides definitions, conversion factors, and links to calculators and notes.
How Many? A Dictionary of Units of Measure
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/index.html
How Many? defines units of measure, both common and unconventional. It includes the International System of Measure, Metric, and English Traditional systems. In the unconventional category, it lists units that are primarily used in one locality, e.g., "butcher", a South Australian measure of beer; units used in ancient times, e.g., "toman", of Persian origin and still used in Turkey and Iran; or just interesting units, e.g., "smoot" or "slinch", the latter invented by NASA. Access is alphabetical and entries include descriptions and historical notes with hyperlinks to other terms in the dictionary and to external sites. No calculator is included. This is a fun and interesting site.
MATH2.org
http://www.math2.org/
This site provides mathematical tables for elementary through college level mathematics. It is designed for quick look-up of math terms and formulas when only brief table information is needed. Designed and maintained by David Manura, it is also available in a Spanish text version.
Biographical and Historical Resources
Frequently, teachers want information of a historical or biographical nature about a topic or mathematician. The following sites are well known for in-depth encyclopedic entries with references. Sites specific to one topic, for instance, devoted solely to Euclid, are not included here, but can easily be found using one of the searchable resources listed under Starting Points or Google. MacTutor
http://www-groups.dcs.st-andrews.ac.uk/~history/
An excellent starting point for historical and biographical information in mathematics, this site contains numerous indexes for locating biographies and topical entries. In addition to an index for the history of math, MacTutor History of Mathematics, and biographies, Index of Biographies, the site contains a Famous Curves Index and Mathematicians of the Day. Alphabetical indexes or the site search engine may be used for navigation. This site is hosted by the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and was created and maintained by Edmund Robertson and John O'Connor.
MacTutor History of Mathematics
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/
This resource is the history of mathematics portion of the MacTutor site named above. Topical information is found through cultural, alphabetical, or subject indexes. This site also includes birthplace maps, timelines, and mathematicians' anniversaries calendar.
MacTutor Index of Biographies
http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/BiogIndex.html
This site is the biographical portion of the MacTutor site named above. More than 1400 mathematicians are described and many biographies include a picture. Entries are easily found through alphabetical or chronological indexes. An index to women mathematicians is also included.
Biographies of Women Mathematicians
http://www.agnesscott.edu/lriddle/women/women.htm
Biographies of Women Mathematicians contains biographies of famous women mathematicians, as part of an on-going project by "students in mathematics classes at Agnes Scott College, in Atlanta, Georgia, to illustrate the numerous achievements of women in the field of mathematics." The 125 plus entries vary greatly in length and amount of information provided. Alphabetical and chronological indexes provide easy navigation. Not all biographies overlap with MacTutor. A page of resources for further study is also provided.
Mathematicians of the African Diaspora (MAD)
http://www.math.buffalo.edu/mad/
Mathematicians of the African Diaspora profiles Black mathematicians and scientists, including a history and biographies of Blacks in mathematics, and a separate section of Black women in mathematics. Other sections include information on Blacks in computer science, physics and astronomy. Links to current job openings and professional societies are also presented. This is an interesting site that includes information not easily found elsewhere.
Mathematical Quotations Server
http://math.furman.edu/~mwoodard/mquot.html
From Furman University, the Quotations Server provides a collection of mathematical quotes. Navigation is by a keyword search or through a browsing alphabetical listing of author names. The quotation database may be downloaded.
Lesson Plans
Sites with lesson plans are numerous, but the links listed below are good starting points because they lead to specific lessons. The Maser Generation II Project provides a nicely annotated listing of lesson plan online collections. The other sites each have a different emphasis or strength and provide the lesson plans or link to a specific lesson as specified in the annotations. More curriculum projects are described in the Mathematics Education section of TERC, which is further described under Professional Societies. Maser Generation II Project - General Math Sites
{http://www.svsu.edu/mathsci-center/resources_mathsites.cfm}
Many Internet sites point to lesson plans and problems, but the Maser Project is particularly useful because each link is well annotated. Descriptions for each site include focus and audience, as well as descriptive information. Numerous listings for lesson plans, problems, puzzles and games are given. Navigation by grade level is provided through the use of three tables for math topics appropriate to elementary, middle, and high school math.
Ask ERIC Lesson Plans Collection - Mathematics
{http://www.eduref.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi/Resources/Subjects/Mathematics/Lesson_Plans.html}
The AskERIC Lesson Plan Collection contains K - 12 lesson plans written by teachers. Lesson plans are organized by broad subject area and grade level.
Breaking Away from the Math Book: Creative Projects for K-8
{http://www.math.nmsu.edu/~breakingaway/}
This site provides a small collection of well-designed lesson plans for K - 8. The lesson plans contain detailed instructions and provide background information for teachers.
CEC Lesson Plans
http://www.col-ed.org/cur/
Columbia Education Center includes lesson plans in math and science, focused mainly at elementary and middle school levels. CEC also links to lesson plans on the Internet. There is no subject searching. All lesson plans are listed by broad grade level.
ENC Lesson Plans-math topics
{http://enc.org/weblinks/lessonplans/math/}
Eisenhower National Clearinghouse was created to collect K - 12 teaching materials for educators in math and science. ENC provides links to lesson plans, national standards, state frameworks, curriculum resources, and professional development. The {Reference Resources} link at ENC includes an "Ask-an-Expert" service and online links to biography sites and real data sources.
Math Forum - Lesson Plans
http://mathforum.org/library/resource_types/lesson_plans/
Part of Math Forum, this page points to hundreds of lessons plans searchable by topic or grade level. A search engine provides keyword searching, with the ability to limit by level. A "Power Search" allows detailed searching by resource type and grade level.
Problems and Contests
Refer to links under Lesson Plans for problems more suitable to classroom use. The sites listed here provide current information on mathematical competitions and problem lists, some with solutions. American Mathematics Competitions
{http://amc.maa.org/}
Sponsored by Mathematical Association of America (MAA), this site gives current information on the American Mathematics Competitions (AMC), which "seeks to increase interest in mathematics and to develop problem solving ability through a series of friendly mathematics contests for junior and senior high school students." AMC also provides a downloadable Teachers Manual and sample questions from previous contests. A Problem Archive has past problems from several contests, which may be downloaded. The Problem directory provides Internet links to math problems from different contests. The site is also available in {French}.
Mathematics Contests, Competitions, and Problems Sets (Math Archives)
http://archives.math.utk.edu/contests/
Part of Math Archive, this site provides Internet links to contests, competitions, and problem sets for elementary schools through college level. To facilitate navigation the contest section is divided by academic level, but the Internet problem set links offer too little content information to be helpful.
Mathschallenge.net
{http://mathschallenge.net/}
Mathschallenge provides problems for middle and high school students. There is no subject index, except in the Problem Archive, but problems are listed by grade level. Solutions are provided for all problems, except for the current month's listings. The "Problem Archive" lists problems by four broad subject categories and includes printable versions and solutions. An "Internet Search" provides keyword searching for various sites offering math problems. There is a separate list of problems in code breaking.
20,000 Problems Under the Sea - Mathematical Treasure on the Web
{http://problems.math.umr.edu/index.htm}
This site was created out of a need to gather in one place math problems suitable for homework and test problems, as such they are less difficult than problems created for competition. There are "exactly 20,000 problems from 38 journals and 21 contests, all published before 1990." Solutions are not included, but references to the problem and a source for its solution are. Problems are appropriate for students in high school and beyond. A search engine or keyword index may be used to navigate through the problems, however there is no easy way to limit the search by level of difficulty.
Professional Societies
Society web pages provide information on membership, events, career and employment, professional development, and often, online resources. NCTM and MAA are two of the primary society publishers for math education materials and offer additional resources for members. American Mathematical Society: Mathematics Research and Scholarship
http://www.ams.org/
The focus of the AMS is primarily at the university level for mathematicians, but its home page offers some information relevant to instructors in the K - 12 schools: {Career information}, {Issues in Mathematics Education}, and High School Students and Teachers all provide relevant information and links. The Directory of Members also includes members of MAA and AWM. Public Awareness promotes awareness of mathematics and offers links to information and articles of interest to the general population.
Association of Teachers of Mathematics (ATM)
http://www.atm.org.uk/
This British organization is composed mainly of math teachers in primary and secondary schools. The home page provides professional development information, online resources, and product reviews.
Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM)
http://www.awm-math.org/
This association encourages women in the mathematical sciences. The association has a mentoring network, which matches up mentors and those seeking to be mentored. There is also a career section with links to articles and employment resources. In addition there is a section with biographies of women mathematicians.
Mathematical Association of America (MAA)
http://www.maa.org/
MAA is "devoted to the interests of collegiate mathematics," in particular, teaching. MAA Online includes articles of interest to mathematicians, book reviews, and a listing of their publications, in addition to the usual communications of a professional society page.
Mathematical Sciences Education Board of the Center for Education (MSEB)
{http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=2071&page=161}
The mission of MSEB is "to provide national leadership and guidance for policies, programs, and practices supporting the improvement of mathematics education at all levels and for all members of our society." This site provides information on current and completed projects supported by MSEB. Project reports are available online or may be purchased if a print copy is desired. A calendar of upcoming meetings is also provided.
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
http://www.nctm.org/
NCTM is the largest mathematics education organization in the world and is devoted to improving mathematics education for elementary through high school students. Provides a link to the full-text of the {Principles and Standards for School Mathematics}. The focus is on teaching in the US and Canada. A comparable UK organization is the Association of Teachers of Mathematics, also listed here. Online resources are accessible via separate pages each for elementary, middle school, and high school level math.
School Science and Mathematics Association (SSMA)
http://www.ssma.org/
SSMA is for "teacher educators and teachers of K - 12 science and mathematics". Their Internet page provides conference, employment, and grant information.
TERC
http://www.terc.edu/
TERC is a research and development organization whose aim is to "improve mathematics, science and technology teaching and learning." Of particular interest is the math education section describing curriculum projects with links to the projects' Internet sites. The links to related publications and projects are helpful in navigating this site.
Discussion Groups
Math Forum - Public Discussionhttp://mathforum.org/discussions/
Math Forum points to discussion groups by name. Most groups originate elsewhere, but are archived at Math Forum; however, Math Forum also hosts several of its own. Two of them are Teacher2Teacher Discussion, a group for teachers and parents about teaching mathematics, and Problem of the Week Discussion, which provides a means of sharing information about Math Forum's "Problems of the Week".
Professional Development
Math Forum - Teacher Education and Professional Developmenthttp://mathforum.org/mathed/professional.dev.html
The "Professional Education and Career Development" area of Math Forum provides information on specific topics, such as calculus reform, as well as links to professional development, continuing education, job placement, and conference information.
World Lecture Hall
{http://wlh.webhost.utexas.edu/}
WHL links to courseware on the Internet, offering course material pages created by faculty worldwide. WLH links to courses at the university level in 83 subject categories, all freely available. Credit can be obtained for courses via their accredited universities or programs.
References
Barrow-Green, J. 1998. History of Mathematics: Resources on the World Wide Web. Mathematics in School 27(4):16-22.Brown, C.M. & Murphy, T.J. 2000. Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. Reference Services Review 28(1): 65-80.
Crowe, D. & Zand, H. 2000. Computers and Undergraduate Mathematics 3: Internet Resources. Computers and Education 35(2):123-147.
Haury, D.L. & Milbourne, L.A. 1996. Mathematics Education Resources on the World Wide Web. ERIC Digest, no. ED 402157. [Online] Available: {http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED402157.pdf} [September 1996].
Joseph, L.C. 1998. Blue Chip Mathematics Sites. MultiMedia Schools 5(1):44-47.
Ozgun-Koca, S.A. 1998a. Information Sources for Mathematics Education. ERIC Digest, no. ED433190. [Online] Available: {http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED433190.pdf} [October 1998].
________. 1998b. Technology in Mathematics Education: Internet Resources. ERIC Digest, no. ED433192. [Online] Available: {http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED433192.pdf} [October 1998].
Roberts, B.A. 2002. Mathematics Resources on the Internet. Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship 35: Summer. [Online] Available: http://www.istl.org/02-summer/internet.html [Summer 2002].
