TEACHING OF MATHEMATICS WITH MATHEMATICA IN ARCHITECTURE

The classical role of the teaching of mathematics in the studies of Architecture has been the transmission of knowledge, methods and mathematical results to the service of quantitative aspects and procedures related to technical topics. The abstract character of the mathematics has often carried to discussions about the presence of this discipline in the schools of Architecture. Nevertheless, the application of the new technologies to the technical problems has allowed changing the vision of the necessity of the teaching of the mathematics in Architecture.

From the School of Architecture of the University of Granada we try to transmit to the students the mathematical knowledge so that they assimilate which are the mathematical tools they have to consider to solve the different problems that could appear in their studies, as well as later in the exercise of the profession.

We try to carry out this transmission of knowledge in such a way that the classes do not turn out to be tedious to the students, and in order that they do not see the mathematics only as a subject they must deal with to obtain the degree. Quite the contrary, we try to show the mathematics in a practical way to the students, trying that the classes be understandable and even pleasant. In this regard we count with the advantage that a great part of the contents of mathematics in Architecture are related to the study of the plane and the space, topics in which the students get on very well due to their spatial vision.

To achieve this end, we have designed a great number of applications with Mathematica that have improved the teaching, since they have allowed us to transmit to the students in a more graphical and intuitive form the mathematical concepts, specially the geometric ones, as the movements in the plane and the space and the theory of curves and surfaces. Besides, other contents as derivatives, integrals and their applications, or the resolution of differential equations are also presented to the students by using Mathematica.

As we explore in depth the use of Mathematica, we conclude that to handle with ingenuity the commands relative to lists, integrals, equations, etc, not only opens new facets of the use of the program, but also it saves a lot of work at the moment of the comprehension of the raised problems as well as time in obtaining the solution.