Algebralab.org Website Review

Welcome to ALGEBRALAB, an online learning environment that focuses on topics and skills from high school mathematics that students must be able to draw upon in their introductory science courses. Since math is the language of science, science courses are often where students first realize “Oh, so this is why we learned that in algebra …” In many cases students often discover that it is one or more math skills that initially block their ability to understand and internalize new science concepts. In science clas*es students must learn how to recognize when particular mathematics procedures are applicable so that they can select from their mathematics toolboxes the correct methods needed to solve new problems. And to make matters worse, these new problems are often word problems that require not only an ultimate solution but an understanding of how to interpret givens, relate cause-and-effect, and set up any initial conditional equations. After 14 years of being online, AlgebraLAB has become an integral component in the curriculum of innumerable instructors Research-based design models have driven the project’s design and implementation. AlgebraLAB focuses on building the connections between science and the basic mathematics required for its understanding by means of: