by Tyler Clark
Mathematica is a high-powered computer mathematics tool. Many universities have a student edition available for download free of charge (WKU is one of these universities). WKU also has it installed on all computers in open labs (MMTH, library, COHH computer lab, FSH computer lab, etc.).
I recommend that students take advantage of Mathematica to help with checking their answers and exploring different problems to better understand the general aspect of a certain concept. Trig students may want to graph different variations of the sine function to determine what is going out in relation to the period, phase shift, vertical shift, and altitude. Mathematica will allow you to graph several different functions on one plot.
Calculus students may want to check their understanding of differentiating the inverse trigonometric functions. They may also want to check to make sure they got the right answer to an integral problem. Mathematica can perform both of these actions.
Although Mathematica is very useful, it really does no good if you do not know how to use it. I am working on a help file for students that can be downloaded at http://www.tylerclark12.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Mathematica-Help-File.pdf. It will be uploaded as I make changes. Please let me know if this file is helpful to you or not.