Main presenter
Co-presenter(s)
Name :
Bernard Marcheterre
Name:
E-mail:
bernardmarcheterre@sympatico.ca
E-mail:
Institution or
Company:
Cégep Régional de Lanaudière à l'Assomption
Name:
Department:
Physique
E-mail:
City:
L'Assomption
Name:
State/Province:
Québec
E-mail:
Country:
Canada
Name:
Type of
presentation:
Lecture : 50 minutes.
E-mail:
Conference
strand and number:
ACDCA ,
Number:
A31
Schedule:
Room:
Sunday, 10h30
1422
Related website:
Title of
presentation:
The great revelation
Abstract:
Student enrolled in the Nature Science Program at the collegial level in Quebec are initiated to calculus and higher-level mathematics through two courses. These two courses, named “Differential Calculus and Integral Calculus” are 75 hours each and cover a large spectrum of subjects. Some students will also go through a third course named “Advanced Calculus” for a total of 225 hours. These three courses being introductory, a large spectrum of interesting questions is never addressed and powerful mathematical tools are left for future discoveries. Ten years ago, I created an advanced physics courses directed mainly to the students who intend to pursue studies in engineering at the university level. The main objective of this course is to adequately prepare students for their first year in a degree in applied sciences. Combining subjects from physics and mathematics, this course makes a large use of Maple for producing graphs and accelerating certain mathematical developments. For certain problems, the software offers solutions making use of complex numbers or esoteric functions. In others cases, solutions can only be found through the use of numerical analysis. Now, all of these mathematical tools are not part of the regular curriculum for these pre-university students. Instead of avoiding them, I have chosen to use these situations as an occasion for smoothly introducing what’s to come in their training as a future scientist