Hi, I'm Darren D. Wick, an associate professor of mathematics at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. This page is a collection of tutorials I have created with the goal of enhancing introductory group theory via visualization of symmetry groups. The tutorials take the user through various aspects of symmetry groups and (try to!) connect them to some of the fundamental concepts of group theory. They have been used in various stages in Abstract Algebra courses I have taught, and also at the Ashland University Ohio Summer Honors Institute for gifted high school students. The students seem to enjoy the tutorials, and sometimes I think they even learn something from them.
The tutorials were created using the multimedia authoring package Authorware, while the images were created using Truespace animation software. Unfortunately, at this point it seems the tutorials only run properly on a Windows machine. I apologize and am working on this issue.
The tutorials are available in two different formats (800x600 or full
screen). You can download a zip file containing executable versions of
all five tutorials. Enjoy!