binomial theorem
Trying to interpret hand drawn equations, particularly those on an exam, can be a source of disagreement and argument about the interpretation of the drawing. For reports and presentations it is critical to be able to put the equations in a symbol format that displays on screens or can be printed. Equation editors, like text editors, can make the reading and editing of symbols much easier for both teachers and students. Some editors are much easier than others. This may mean that instructors needs to spend some time in the computer lab with their students bringing them up to speed on the equation editor or create a few screen movies for home Web viewing using ScreenToaster or similar applications (e.g., ScreenFlow and Camtasia). Equation editing will be important across the entire STEM spectrum of courses and activities, not just in a mathematics class. Equation editors have been available within desktop computer applications for a long time. Eventually the Web browsers and tools will catch up, but for now equation displays on Web pages require further specialized knowledge.
Specialized equation editors include MathType and LaTex. Other equation editors are one feature of a program that has a larger mission. The most commonly available of these embedded equation editors is the equation editor in MS Word. Equation editors can also be found in Mathematica or the test question creating program called Respondus. Course management system software such as Blackboard or Moodle also have ways to display math equations. The 2D and 3D graphing calculator that comes with Macintosh computers, called Grapher, also uses proper mathematical notation as well as simultaneously displaying a graph of the equation. After selecting the equation from the edit field, press the Control Key and click on the expression, and then choose Copy LeTex Expression from the pop-up menu to paste to any other application that can handle LaTex expression.
The guaranteed solution for the display of equations on a Web page is to turn them into pictures or graphic images that can be inserted into a Web page. This is the approach taken by Respondus. Other approaches come built in to selected Web server or Web page applications. The Web server software from several sites can handle MathType formatting, including Wikpedia, and PlanetMath, Wikispaces and the WordPress blog site creation software. For a Web application, the Online LaTeX Equation Editor by CodeCogs provides a quick online way to create HTML code for copying and pasting into Web pages or a way to download the equation as an image that can then be inserted into a Web page or into a word processing or slideshow application.
Screen movies below provide demonstration and some explanation of how they work in Word.
v1.0 Updated October 27, 2009 | Page author: Houghton