New Maple PowerTools

Fr. Mike May is the Maple PowerTools™ King

When he is not investigating ring theory or saying mass for students, Fr. Mike May is likely creating Maple modules for his math courses. Fr. May, Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at St. Louis University, has contributed three superb PowerTools to the Maple Application Center in the last four months. As an expert in the field of algebra, Fr. May has authored or co-authored PowerTools for Linear Algebra, Abstract Algebra, Calculus III, and most recently, Cryptography.

PowerTools are free collections of Maple course materials contributed by educators for use by others in their own courses.
All of these are available for free download from http://www.adeptscience.com/go?pg=O64

However, Fr. May makes sure that technology is not used in his courses just for its own sake. “There is a need to develop materials for the instructors so that the technology becomes a useful tool rather than just something else to cover,” says May. His strategy is working, for St. Louis University awarded him Outstanding Teacher of the Year in 2001.

Other Maple enthusiasts have also recently contributed new PowerTools. Dr. Jack Wagner of Lehman College developed 12 highly polished Maple lessons for Calculus IV using Maple 8’s new VectorCalculus package. Dr. Wagner’s lessons emphasise vector fields but also include a smattering of differential geometry. You may download the Calculus IV PowerTool at http://www.adeptscience.com/go?pg=O65

Article: New Maple PowerTools