Computer Aided Instruction Tools in JAVA for Different On-Campus Departments

My project was to research and create a software package that can be used by different departments on campus for instructional purposes. I spent 8 weeks during summer of 2000 learning Java and designing this package, under the SLU Fellowship program. Using this package, students can visualize the theoretical ideas they work on in a class. Texts on any topic provide static information whereas computer based applets (web software) are interactive and hence helps constructive learning of the topic. With computer-generated programs, students can see how changes in a single data point affect the results of data analysis dynamically. This package can be customized and be used by any department on campus and as an example, I specialized the package for Mathematics department at St. Lawrence University. Any student who wishes to explore introductory statistics can use this package. I created the software to be used as a teaching-learning tool, which is not achieved by conventional software. Here students can use one part of the software to learn the concepts and then use the other part, as a game, to test the skills acquired. The following applets that I created using the package are targeted for statistics students but anyone interested in the subject can use it with ease.