Math teacher Jude Loeffler’s students have been using an online graphing tool to enhance their learning experience in the classroom.

Recently, in Honors Pre-Calculus, students used the online graphing tool, Desmos, to graph their own names, using functions that they were exploring in class.

The integration of this hands-on project into the course curriculum allowed “students to get familiar with the online graphing program,” said Loeffler.

When asked how it enhances his teaching, he responded, “It fits in with learning the characteristics of behavior of the functions one will encounter in advanced mathematics… The main part was for the students to use all sorts of different functions and domain restrictions in order to create their name.”

The response from students was positive –  they were all excited to use this new classroom tool. In fact, many students from previous years wished that they had been able to do it.

Senior Shreya Chatterjee and junior Preyasi Kumar both responded with an emphatic “Yeah!” when asked if they would have liked to do this activity when they took this class.

Loeffler commented that he saw an increase in understanding of the course content upon completion of this project.

He said: “[students are] much more comfortable, especially with doing piecewise functions… all of them really enjoy using Desmos for their graphing.”

Desmos is funded by Google and acts not only as an online graphing calculator, but as a valuable resource for teachers and students, with separate links and tools for educators.

By using this technology, Loeffler has been able to increase the level of understanding of difficult course content through an engaging, unique, and fun project.