An Active Learning Activity for the Construction of a Finite-Field Slide Rule for Undergraduate Students

Abstract

Math manipulatives and physical math activities offer numerous benefits in the learning process in all educational levels: they provide concrete representations of abstract concepts, thus helping more students to understand them, and they are an opportunity for students to explore and test their understanding of mathematical concepts. Moreover, in active learning activities conducted with tangible objects, students are physically engaged in the lessons, and are given a fun way to practice their math skills, which contributes with retention and positive feeling. In this article, an active teaching activity aimed at first-year college students is presented, designed to deepen the understanding of finite fields through the construction of a slide rule. The tool presented is easy to make and can be used effectively in a short time. The activity described was carried out as part of a larger workshop on modular arithmetic and the basics of cryptography offered to first-year engineering students at Politecnico di Torino.