COMPUTER-ORIENTED APPLICATION MODULES FOR ABSTRACT ALGEBRA

Twenty-one students in an introductory abstract algebra class and five students in a graduate abstract algebra class were given algebra application modules for independent study. Four modules were prepared with two of them going to one class and two going to the other class. The modules required the student to read about an algebra application and then to work exercises with and without the aid of a microcomputer. To get feedback on module and computer program quality the two instructors were interviewed, and the students filled out a Modules Evaluation Form.; Good suggestions were gathered to use in revising the modules. Although the students were neutral about their feelings on some aspects of the study, they were in general favorably impressed with the way the modules helped enrich and motivate the algebraic theory which they were studying at that time in class. Also, the undergraduate students felt that they were more familiar with microcomputer capabilities after having used the modules. The instructors indicated that the modules did not take up much more of their time in or out of class beyond that which they would have otherwise spent.