This study is part of ongoing research in undergraduate mathematics education. The study was guided by the belief that understanding the mental constructions the pre-service teachers make when learning matrix algebra concepts leads to improved instructional methods. In this preliminary study the data was collected from 85 pre-service teachers…

This article presents a fun activity of generating a double-minded fractal image for a linear algebra class once the idea of rotation and scaling matrices are introduced. In particular the fractal flip-flops between two words, depending on the level at which the image is viewed. (Contains 5 figures.)

Two statements concerning magic squares, considered as 3x3 matrices, are discussed and their proofs given using only high school level techniques. (MP)

Students were presented with the problem of finding all magic squares of order three. (SD)

Finding the shortest route between two points can be approached by vector methods. Several types of matrices modelling a map of 6 cities are described. (SD)

Discussed is the use of magic squares as examples in a first year course in linear algebra. Four examples are presented with each including the proposition, the procedure, and a proof. (KR)

Presented is a method where a quadratic equation is solved and from its roots the eigenvalues and corresponding eigenvectors are determined immediately. Included are the proposition, the procedure, and comments. (KR)

Discussed is how a separable field extension can play a major role in many treatments of Galois theory. The technique of diagonalizing matrices is used. Included are the introduction, the proofs, theorems, and corollaries. (KR)

That the principal axis theorem does not extend to any finite field is demonstrated. Presented are four examples that illustrate the difficulty in extending the principal axis theorem to fields other than the field of real numbers. Included are a theorem and proof that uses only a simple counting argument. (KR)

Described is a decomposition theory from which the Cayley-Hamilton theorem, the diagonalizability of complex square matrices, and functional calculus can be developed. The theory and its applications are based on elementary polynomial algebra. (KR)

Presented is a scheduling algorithm that uses all the busses at each step for any rectangular array. Included are two lemmas, proofs, a theorem, the solution, and variations on this problem. (KR)