Enhancing Student Engagement in Mathematics Studies with Low-Barrier Interactive Tools

Abstract

Many mathematical applets are freely available online, especially on platforms such as Desmos and WolframAlpha, but their notation and conceptual breadth might diverge from the needs of a particular course. These mismatches can impose unnecessary cognitive load when students must translate unfamiliar symbols or sift through topics beyond the scope of their course.

To address this challenge, the Learning Hub (Mathematics) at the University of Sydney is building a repository of lightweight JavaScript applets that exactly match the notation and weekly learning outcomes in the courses at the University of Sydney. These single-purpose tools embed seamlessly in Canvas, run in any browser without extra software, and enable real-time exploration through intuitive sliders, draggable elements (e.g., vectors), and simple buttons. These applets share a common design template, which lets learners focus on visualising and exploring mathematical concepts rather than deciphering a new interface when using each tool, thereby reducing students’ cognitive load and boosting engagement. Development of discipline-specific, customisable JavaScript applets is also underway. One example is an applet which allows chemistry students to see how symmetry matrices rotate an atom, and they can drag a slider and watch the atoms’ position vectors transform in three dimensions, while the applet instantly shows the matrix multiplication corresponding to this linear transformation.

Attendees will leave this session with practical strategies for creating or sourcing low-barrier, course-aligned applets that enhance student engagement and conceptual understanding in STEM education. We will share our design principles, development workflow, and examples, empowering participants to implement or adapt similar interactive tools in their own teaching contexts.