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Text File | 1996-04-19 | 26.6 KB | 573 lines

S H O W M E M A T H - TM U S E R M A N U A L Version 2.2 NOTE: If you are using an earlier version of Show Me Math, prior to version 2.1, you must either: erase all of the old Show Me Math files (including the '.pro' user files) OR create a new subdirectory for Version 2.2. In either case, the '.pro' files for old versions are NOT compatible with versions prior to 2.1. For questions, comments or problems, write to: Show Me Math P.O. Box 7452 Overland Park, KS 66207 We apologize we do not have a phone or a modem or a BBS, but quite frankly we cannot afford any of the above. This program was developed on an 'AT' class computer, if you can believe that, and takes over 3 and one-half hours to compile in the Microsoft C language. "Show Me Math" is a Trademark (TM) of R. Webster Kehr "Show Me Math" software is (c) 1991 - All Rights Reserved, by R. Webster Kehr This Manual is (c) 1991 - All Rights Reserved, by R. Webster Kehr INTRODUCTION: Show Me Math is one of the best math education programs in the world for students from age 4 all the way up to college pre-algebra. The advantages of Show Me Math for middle school, high school, and college students are very obvious and straightforward. The advanced level options (to be discussed below) are very easy to identify and use and higher level curriculums are generally right on track, given the prior curriculums of the students. The advantages of Show Me Math for younger students and children are vastly more nebulous because math curriculums in grades K - 6 in the U.S. move too slowly. While some teachers would introduce division in 4th/5th GRADE, we know children AGE 6 should be doing conceptual division problems. Negatives should also be introduced around AGE 6. By the time a student reaches high school, they should have done Algebra I and Geometry as a minimum, but probably a lot more. That's not in the current curriculum, except for honor students. An example of how Show Me Math would teach conceptual division to 6 year olds will be show (there are many specific modules to accomplish all of the tasks listed below): 1) Learn to count FORWARDS past 100 2) Learn addition by counting forwards 3) Learn subtraction by counting forwards 4) Learn multiplication by counting forwards 5) Learn to count BACKWARDS from 100 to 0. 6) Learn subtraction by counting backwards 7) Learn division by counting backwards to 0 (a division problem such as 35 divided by 7 is really the answer to this question: how many times can you SUBTRACT 7 from 35? - division is really a special form of subtraction, where you continue to subtract until you get to zero) In short, as soon as a child can count backwards from 100 to 0, they should be doing division! This is just one example of the difference between computer-aided education and book-oriented education. With a computer students can jump around and be exposed to many different kinds of problems simultaneously. This is vital because a student learns not to fear upcoming subject matter. Books, on the other hand, have a severe case of tunnel-vision. Books also have very few practice problems and show how to solve very few problems in detail. Computers, on the other hand, provide the opportunity for unlimited numbers of practice problems and the ability to display how to solve virtually EVERY problem! Since Show Me Math is too new of a product and computer-aided education has been so abused, no one really knows yet what younger students are capable of doing! Show Me Math is first and foremost a TOOL. For now, it is up to the parent or teacher to determine how best to use it. If you have any ideas, please write us. The power of the computer in education is very much in its formative stages and we are listening to parents, teachers, educators and cognitive psychologists. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT SHOW ME MATH tm Will this program run under Microsoft Windows? Show Me Math is a non-windows, DOS program. Generally, it will run under Windows, however, there are thousands of different memory resident programs, some of which may conflict with Show Me Math in memory. Sometimes, even Windows itself will cause problems with non-windows programs, such as when the "DOSKEY" or "APPEND" features are set. Normally, however, if you create a Show Me Math icon using the "Program Manager" there will be no problems. But if you have problems, write us at the above address, tell us your system configuration and problem, and we will try to work out any problems you encounter. Usually we will respond by phone. We do have a phone, but we are never there to answer it. Will this program run with a monochrome screen? Generally, yes. Show Me Math, in fact, has special settings for highlighting, bolding and underlining significant data on monochrome screens. Show Me Math senses what kind of screen your system says it has. However, there are many different kinds of nonstandard and even weird and strange hardware/software configurations, some even from major vendors. As above, if you cannot get it to run, write us. Show Me Math is a huge program, will it run on 520k of memory? Even though Show Me Math is a huge program, only a moderate percentage of the program is ever in memory at any given time. Memory should not be a problem. However, if when you try to run this program you get an error message with the word "memory" in it, or some other error message, and the program will not load, you are probably running on a network, have a DOS shell, or have some other memory resident program running that is hogging your memory! Show Me Math likes to hog all of the memory itself! It may be necessary to re-boot your computer WITH YOUR ORIGINAL, UNMODIFIED DOS DISK IN YOUR 'A' DRIVE or to rename your 'autoexec.bat' file and re-boot! Make sure you use the proper DOS disk or you could do damage to your hard drive! You will not be on the network or have any memory resident programs running if you do this, but you can see this program. This simple trick will bypass the 'autoexec.bat' file on your 'C' drive. Show Me Math is NOT a game or toy, will my students or children ever use it? Most students and children in the U.S. watch a lot of TV and play a lot of video games, which destroys their attention span and creativity, such as watching programs like Sesame Street. Many educators and software developers make no effort to offset this trend, but simply give in to it by trying to constantly entertain students and chil- dren. Show Me Math, if used properly, will BUILD the attention span of students and children. It is a big mistake to try to entertain students while they are learning - it harms their cognitive learning! INSTALLATION, SYNTAX AND OTHER NOTES: In order to know the full power of this program, you must go through the steps in this manual, AFTER you have gone through the on- screen tutorial. Before explaining how to run the program, it is necessary to talk about the syntax used in this manual. 1) Any time you see something surrounded by square brackets (e.g. [Enter]), that indicates a single keystroke, not a word. For example, if you see [Enter], you should hit the [Enter] key once, do NOT type out the word: E-n-t-e-r. For example, if you are told to type: [Esc]100[Enter], you should hit exactly FIVE keystrokes, the [Esc] key, the [1] key, the [0] key, the [0] key, and the [Enter] key, in that order. 2) In an ASCII file it is not possible to underline things, so you will have to make your best guess as to what is already on the screen and what you need to type in. For example, if you see: A>sm_math[Enter] - you should hit exactly 8 keystrokes: the [s], [m], [_], [m], [a], [t], [h], and [Enter] keys. The 'A>' is the DOS prompt, and you can ignore the DOS prompt and anything to the LEFT of the '>' DOS prompt character. For example, you might see: A> or B> or C:\SM_MATH> or W:\WP>, etc. Anything to the LEFT of the '>' key is part of the DOS prompt. The blinking cursor should be just to the RIGHT of the '>' symbol. This is where you begin typing. Since BBS users are accustomed to uncompressing files, creating new subdirectories, etc. little attempt will be made to teach you these things. Obviously you have already uncompressed the Show Me Math files, so these are some things to remember: 1) Create a new sub-directory, called 'SM_MATH'. You don't have to call it 'sm_math', but if you call it something else, substitute your name for 'sm_math' wherever you see it. type: C:\>md sm_math[Enter] 2) Go to the new directory. type: C:\>cd\sm_math[Enter] Step 2 above is how you get to the program in the future. You can ONLY run Show Me Math when you are in the 'sm_math' sub-directory! 3) Your screen should now look like this (assuming you use C:\>prompt $p$g): C:\SM_MATH> If it doesn't, go back to step 1 or 2 until it does! 4) Next you need to copy all of the files to the new sub-directory. It is important to run Show Me Math from the proper sub-directory since there are data files that will be created while Show Me Math is running. 5) Now that Show Me Math is installed, the first thing you should do is run the on-screen tutorial. This is important because there are many features of Show Me Math that are not documented in this manual. To do this, type: C:\SM_MATH>sm_math[Enter] 6) After watching some introductory screens pop up and then go away, you should wait until you are looking at a screen that asks you for 'Your Name' to the left of the highlighted box and blinking cursor. This is the name of an individual's file. For now, we will use the file: william (actually: william.pro) that comes with the software, Your Name william[Enter] 7) The instructions for creating your own file are on the screen. The next time you enter Show Me Math by typing 'sm_math' you can create your own file. To get past this screen, hit: [SpaceBar] 8) Now you should see two columns of words in the Main Menu. The left column represent twenty different GROUPS of modules (a 'module' will generate a specific type of math problem, or in other words, a 'set' of problems - in this manual the words 'module' and 'set' are generally interchangeable). The column on the right represents the specific modules within each group. As you move the [UpArrow] and [DownArrow] keys, you will see all of the modules for each group. The twenty groups have over 160 different modules in them. Many modules also have sub- modules. RUNNING THE TUTORIAL To run the tutorial, while in the left column of the Main Menu, hit: [PageDown] You should now be on the bottom, or the 20th, GROUP (see the upper right corner of the screen to see the NUMBER of the group you are looking at) called: UTILITIES - GROUP 20. Now, hit: [Enter] This will move the highlight bar to the RIGHT column and the upper right corner of the screen will show the number of the module the high- light bar is on. Now, move the [DownArrow] until you highlight the mod- ule known as: Tutorial/General Information. Once this option is high lighted, hit: [DownArrow] .. 5 times .. [Enter] The screen will now turn blank for a moment and you will be in the tutorial. Follow the instructions on the screen until you are done with the tutorial. When the Tutorial is done, you will return to the Main Menu, and the highlight bar will be sitting on the first Group. There are 20 groups of modules in Show Me Math. The first 10 groups are 'beginning' level groups. The next 9 groups are 'advanced' level groups. This was explained in the Tutorial. Since the advanced groups have a more advanced interface, we will use one of these modules for the rest of this session. 1) You should now hit the [DownArrow] key until you highlight the bar titled "Advanced Level - Group 11," the 11th Group. This is the first advanced group of modules. hit: [DownArrow] .. 10 times .. [Enter] 2) The word "Addition" in the right column should now be highlighted. The Module # in the upper right corner of the screen should be # 201. Let's do a set of multiplication problems, so hit: [DownArrow][DownArrow] 3) The word "Multiplication" should now be highlighted, hit: [Enter] 4) A new screen should appear, and the words "Multiplication /Whole" should now be highlighted. 5) In order to be able to control the problems we will work with, it is necessary to change the "seed" which generates random numbers. You learned about the seed in the Tutorial. Normally it is not necessary to change it, but here we will need to. hit: [F4]100[Enter] 6) The seed, shown in the bottom right corner of the screen, should now be equal to 100. Let's suppose we want the option that says: '2. Multiplication /Whole/HELP' We have two ways to execute that option. First, we could hit: 2[Enter]. Our other option is to use the [DownArrow] key and then hit [Enter] when what we want is highlighted. We will chose the first way, type: 2[Enter] 7) Since the option we have chosen does not allow decimals, the program did not ask us how many decimals we wanted. If this tutorial has not been used before, the program will guide us through the skill level parameters. The parameters are where we may enter the number of decimals (if allowed by the option), the skill levels or ranges (which control the difficulty of the prob- lems) and perhaps other information. (If this tutorial has been used before, you may get a pop-up menu that asks if you want to change the skill levels - if so - hit [DownArrow][Enter] - the 'Yes' option) Now enter the following numbers, which represent the # of problems and ranges for this set. If you make a mistake, or if other numbers are already in the fields, just use the arrow keys and the [Esc] key to clear any error, or to erase the old numbers, and enter the correct number(s). Do NOT deviate from the numbers below or the wrong problems will be generated by the computer for this sample! # Problems in Set : 10[Enter] Minimum Top Number : 200[Enter] Maximum Top Number : 400[Enter] Minimum Bot Number : 25[Enter] Maximum Bot Number : 35[Enter] 8) The skill levels/parameters have now been entered. The program has now been told to generate 10 problems in this set, where the Multiplicand of each problem will range between 200 and 400, and the Multiplier of each problem will range from 25 to 35. Double check the parameters, including the "seed" before continuing! If you have made a mistake, go back to the step where you made the mistake and try again. When you see the words "[Enter] or []", Hit: [Enter][Enter] 9) The second [Enter] was to tell the program we wanted to type the answer in from left to right. The problem: 350 x 33 should now be showing on the screen. Note that the 350, the Multiplicand, is between 200 and 400, and note that 33, the Multiplier, is between 25 and 35. If this is not the problem showing, you made a mistake entering the parameters (if that is the case, hit [F9], go to the Main Menu, and get back into this module, change the seed again and change the parameters). If that is the correct problem, now type the correct answer, followed by the [Enter] key. Watch the screen as you hit the [Enter] key. type: 11550[Enter] (never type a comma) 10) The word "Correct" should have very briefly displayed on the screen (either highlighted in green or underlined), and a step-by- step demonstration/Show Me screen should have appeared. We will talk about these screens below, so for now, hit: [Enter] .. 8 times .. the next problem will appear. For the next five problems, enter the correct answers and skip past the step-by-step demonstrations by hitting the [Enter] key several times, type: 10944[Enter] - hit [Enter] .. 8 more times .. type: 8960[Enter] - hit [Enter] .. 8 more times .. type: 7136[Enter] - hit [Enter] .. 8 more times .. type: 8850[Enter] - hit [Enter] .. 6 more times .. type: 7875[Enter] - hit [Enter] .. 8 more times .. 11) At this point we want to see what happens if we enter an INCORRECT answer. The problem: 359 x 27 should now be showing. We know the correct answer is 9,693. However, let's type an incorrect answer. Watch the screen as you hit the [Enter] key. type: 9699[Enter] 12) Since we entered an INCORRECT answer, the word "Incorrect" briefly popped up, and a 'beep' sounded, and we are given another chance to enter the correct answer. If we miss the answer a total of three times, the computer will give us the correct answer. Let's miss it two more times: type: 9691[Enter] type: 9695[Enter] 13) The correct answer is highlighted in red (it is reverse-blinking if you have a monochrome monitor), and the cursor is sitting at the bottom right of the screen next to the phrase: Note Correct Answer, Hit Any Key:. type: [Enter] 14) The computer will now show (i.e. "Show Me Screen"), step-by- step how to solve the problem. Note the "7" in the "27" is highlighted (in yellow if you have color - bold if you have monochrome), and the "9" in the "359" is highlighted. Note also how the instructions on the side of the screen follow the high- lighted items in the main problem. As you hit the [Enter] key eight times, note how the highlighted items change: type: [Enter] .. slowly 8 times .. 15) Now we should see the next problem: 308 x 31. Rather than try to solve this problem, let's see how to terminate the problem set prematurely. To go back to the Main Menu, type: [F9] 16) If you have a color monitor, you will now see a pie chart showing the percentage of correct answers and incorrect answers for this set. No pie chart will be seen if you have a monochrome monitor. ONLY IF you have a color monitor (skip this step if you have monochrome), type: [Enter] 17) If you have a color or a monochrome monitor, you should now see a screen with three horizontal bars on it. This is an information screen that gives you, among other things, your grade for the set near the top of the screen. You should see a 'B' for the "Set" and a 'B' for "Life." The life score is saved on the disk. Elapsed time is also shown. type: [Enter] 18) We are now back to the Main Menu. If we had not prematurely ended the set, we would have gotten a pop-up menu to ask us if we wanted to do another set or return to the module's menu. Let's see an example of changing the number of decimals. Again, since we must be able to control the problem set in this manual, we must control the seed. Normally, this is not necessary. Hit: [Enter][Enter][F4]200[Enter] 19) The first two [Enter]s were to get us back to the multiplication module. The seed should now equal 200. Now let's chose an option which allows decimals, Option #4. This option will allow the user to input a problem of their choice (e.g. from a textbook). Hit: 4[Enter] 20) A pop-up menu has appeared to let us enter from 0 to 3 decimals. Let's choose 1 decimal. Hit: [DownArrow][Enter] 21) Let's leave all of the other parameters alone: type: [Ctrl/End] (Note: this is a compound keystroke- hold down the [Ctrl] key, and while holding it down, hit the [End] key) 22) We should now be sitting next to the words, "[Enter] or []", hit: [Enter][Enter] 23) Now we can enter any problem we want, subject to the limiting ranges shown on the bottom right corner of the screen (i.e. from -5,000.0 to 5,000.0). Let's enter the problem 653.2 x 6.3: type: 653.2[Enter] (Note: The "." is the period key) type: 6.3[Enter] 24) We may know that the correct answer is 4,115.16, but whether we do or not, let us bypass the process of missing it three times - let's go directly to the "Show Me" screen (Note: the "Show Me" screen never works with a Missing Value problem, but it will work with a "User Defined" problem): hit: [F5] 25) We now see the "3" in the "63" highlighted, and the "2" in the "6532" highlighted, just like above. The result of 6532 * 3 is shown below the line (19596). Hit [Enter] 9 times slowly: hit: [Enter] .. slowly 9 times .. 26) We now see the final answer, 4,115.16. Note that there are no decimal points shown, but that all numbers which would be to the right of the decimal point, if you have a color monitor, are shaded grey. If you have a monochrome monitor, the decimal portion of the each number will be underlined. Let's complete the "Show Me Screen." hit: [Enter] 27) The program should now be waiting for us to enter another problem. Instead, let's go back to the Main Menu. hit: [F9] 28) The pie chart and bar chart did not appear because we did not attempt to solve any problems, we simply looked at a demonstration screen. 29) In the Main Menu we cannot hit the number of the option because there isn't room on the screen for all of the option numbers. When we returned to the Main Menu our file (i.e. skill levels, lifetime scores, etc.) were saved on the disk automatically. 30) At this point the samples will end. In the beginning level modules (Groups 1 - 10) we cannot control the seed (which is too complex of a concept for beginning level students), so the problems generated by the program cannot be predicted by this manual. You can get back into the program and generate your own problems. Have fun experimenting with this program yourself! In future days, to get back into the program, assuming the DOS prompt is 'B>', simply: 1) B>C: (to get to the C: drive, if the 'C>' prompt is not already showing) 2) C>prompt $p$g (to display the path) 3) C:\>cd\sm_math (to get to the proper subdirectory, the DOS prompt does NOT need to be exactly as shown if you do not happen to be in the root directory) 4) C:\SM_MATH>sm_math (to run the program) The above exercise doesn't show you all of the things this program does, but it does give you an introduction to how the skill levels work. Additional features are listed below. Some features not demonstrated above: 1) If you get 30 correct answers in a row, prior to returning to the Main Menu, the screen goes berserk - in fun. Watch it for a few minutes. 2) If you get 100% correct for a problem set, if it had 3 or more problems in it, a car race will occur for the beginning level mod- ules and a decorative screen will be displayed for the advanced modules. The pie chart only appears if you missed one or more problems. 3) If you get 50% or less correct, if it had 3 or more problems in it, the screen turns red. 4) There is a way to turn on and off the sound (Group #20 in the left column of the Main Menu has a module called: Change Music), so that if you score 100% on a set of 3 or more problems, a song up to 15 notes long is played. The fifteen notes can be changed by the user, and the sound can be turned on and off in this module. After choosing Group #20 and the "Change Music" module, the [Alt/F5] key combination (i.e. hold down the [Alt] key, and while holding it down, hit the [F5] key) will show you the values that relate to the various pitches. Other instructions are on the screen. 5) [Alt/F6] - This option will show you all of the prime numbers from 2 to 3,989. This is useful when working with primes, LCDs, fractions, radicals, etc. This key combination functions in the problem sets while the program is waiting for a number to be input. 6) [Alt/F7] - allows you to adjust the colors or shades on your monitor by turning the control knobs. This key combination functions in the problem sets as above. A number of other features are documented in the Tutorial discussed above, including pre-programming, skipping the Main Menu, etc.