User Case Study:
Technology In The Classroom
Maple Helps to Advance the Use of Information Technology in Education at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute

The Moscow Power Engineering Institute is one of the world’s leading technical universities in power engineering, electronics and information technology (IT). Professor Valery Ochkov, who has been teaching in the Institute’s Water and Fuel Technology Department for 27 years, is also a published author in the fields of thermal engineering, heat transfer and power engineering. He is well-known throughout Russia and internationally as a pioneer in advancing new methods of using technology in the classroom. Maple, the advanced computation tool from Maplesoft, is his preferred software for promoting the use of information technology in education.

Having written several applications for Maple which are featured on the Maplesoft website, Professor Ochkov was very familiar with the software. To promote the expansion of using information technology in education, Professor Ochkov highlights Maple’s Clickable Math features and interactive assistants. Maple allows mathematics and engineering students the ability to analyze, explore, visualize and solve mathematical problems. “With Maple, students are able to see math in a whole new way, without relying on traditional textbooks alone,” said Professor Ochkov. “This concept is the very essence of expanding the use of information technology in education, not only at the university level, but at the high school level as well.”

Professor Ochkov also uses Maple in his work at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, where he evenly divides his time between teaching and research. Professor Ochkov recently began employing Maple in his course, IT in Power Plant Designs. Although he had used other calculation tools in his classroom previously, Professor Ochkov found Maple superior in many ways. Other tools contain limited symbolic mathematics. However, the comprehensive symbolic notations found in Maple mimic the notations found in textbooks. Professor Ochkov also relies on Maple’s interactive assistants for use with many mathematical problems that engineering students regularly encounter in their classes. Interactive assistants allow students to explore different aspects of questions and solutions, control algorithm and display options and create mini-applications to explore particular problems. Professor Ochkov cited two examples of Maple’s interactive assistants that set Maple apart from other mathematics tools: Maple’s three-dimensional plotting of implicitly defined surfaces and Maple’s analysis of large classes of ordinary differential equation problems, including boundary value problems and initial value problems.

Since employing Maple in his classroom, Professor Ochkov has noticed a difference in his students’ performance. “Maple enables me to convey engineering concepts in an easy-to-learn way. Maple’s symbolic notation is second to none and the students really enjoy using Maple in the classroom,” noted Professor Ochkov. “The students seem more engaged in the class and are better able to visualize basic engineering principles, leading to a deeper understanding of the concepts, which will help them as they continue into more advanced engineering classes.”

In his research, Professor Ochkov is involved with the IAPWS, the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam. The IAPWS is concerned with the properties of water and steam, including thermophysical properties, cycle chemistry guidelines and other aspects of high-temperature steam, water and aqueous mixtures. As a part of his advocacy for the IAPWS, Professor Ochkov has developed an online calculator for water properties. The calculator was created in Maple and posted on the MapleCloud website.

The online calculator employs the complex partial derivatives of Helmholtz and Gibbs equations, which measure the process-initiating work obtained from a thermodynamic system at a constant temperature and pressure.

With this calculator, users can enter two state values (specifically, temperature and density) and calculate the thermodynamic and transport properties of water.

Noted Professor Ochkov, “Maple handles complex mathematics more efficiently and accurately than any other mathematics tool I have ever used. I look forward to expanding the use of Maple in my research, teaching and education platform.”