Approaches for Dynamic Representation of Mathematical Content in Engineering Education

In this paper we present two approaches for enhancing digital study materials for engineering education and show how they can be transformed from basic, static documents into interactive, dynamic documents. Nowadays, non-traditional teaching methods such as flipped learning, blended learning, project-based learning are being introduced into engineering lectures and this trend found its way into mathematics courses. These methods place emphasis more on self-study and out-of classroom preparation before the actual exercise in a classroom setting occurs. They involve usage of additional media that complement classic course textbooks or study materials in printed or digital form. We show that the static digital documents itself can be enhanced by dynamic elements. First, we discuss ways of using well-known LATEX typesetting system for creating dynamic, animated algebraic representations and 2D graphs for visualizing mathematical expressions, exporting and publishing them as a PDF document, which can be made available online. Second, we show how JavaScript-based reactive elements interactively link algebraic with graphical representations in HTML documents, making the study material an active reading experience.