Paper Reading #2 - Hands-On Math

• Paper Title: Hands-On Math
• Authors: Robert Zeleznik, Andrew Bragdon, Ferdi Adeputra, and Hsu-Sheng Ko, all published researchers for Brown University
• Presented at 23rd annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology, New York, NY, 2010

http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?doid=1866029.1866035

Summary

     This article discusses the pros and cons of using basic paper and pen to compute mathematical problems versus using the assistance of a Computer Algebra System (CAS) to avoid making mistakes during evaluation, the main con for CAS being that most interfaces are limited or difficult to learn. Zeleznik, et al feel as though they may have found their solution with Hands-On Math, a system for creating an environment of virtual pages to be written on like paper while possessing the ability to perform step by step algebraic functions. The first part of this article explains the functionality of the device. Its features include the ability to create, move, and delete pages, fold pages over to temporarily hide content, perform algebraic functions such as factoring, and much more, all using pen and touch interfaces. At the time of this paper, they had an alpha version of a working prototype that they tested with fellow students at Brown University and collected general feedback. Overall, their work was praised as potential for a very viable tool in computing mathematical problems. The main problems that were brought up included difficulty learning a particular feature or something not feeling "natural". Zeleznik, et al will continue their work to optimize their features, and potentially allow for more complicated math to be computed as well.

My View

     In this age of smartphones and Angry Birds, where touch and stylus interfaces are all the rage, it is always good to see more useful applications come out using the technology. I believe Zeleznik, et al could potentially have a working product here, albeit a few concerns from the testers. The question is, would people actually use this? It seems to me that the ones who would get the most use out of this device are students taking the particular subject this device assists with, since most professionals who see this math on a daily basis are pretty comfortable with it already and can simply use a much cheaper graphing calculator. However, as a student myself, I can honestly say that I don't see many professors allowing this kind of technology to be used in their classes, as the best way to learn is through mistakes, and inhibiting the ability to make mistakes could, in turn, cause more mistakes down the road in cases that this technology is not available.

     Now, do not get me wrong. I really do see potential in this device, particularly if computations are advanced to the calculus or differential equations level, since I know that there are several calculations in those levels that just cannot be done by hand. Many engineering student here at Texas A&M are required to use such a program to perform these high level calculations called Maple, but is not very widely praised, from what I have heard from my peers, as well as my personal opinion. Having Hands-On Math as a viable alternative sounds extremely beneficial. In addition, I could see this product as a valuable tool for researchers to help them develop proofs for their ideas.

     All in all, I see Hands-On Math as potentially a powerful innovation, assuming its computational power goes beyond that of a standard TI-89 graphing calculator.