Eva Knoll

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Eva Knoll is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education. Eva Knoll's current academic work consists of research into the mathematical elements of craft, design and visual art practices, with an emphasis on the potential application in mathematics education. In particular, she is currently leading a research group composed of a mathematician, a textile scholar, two schoolteachers, an archivist and herself. Their work is focusing on an exploration of the mathematical thinking inherent in the design, creation and appreciation of textiles. Topics include:

Geometry: symmetries and transformations, groups in geometry, topology
Number sense and patterns in numbers
Diagrams and their effective creation and use for communication both in mathematics and art making

Other Research and Teaching Interests

Mathematical Research Situations in the Classroom (RSC)
Research experience in pure mathematics as a learning context
Affect in mathematics learning
Creativity in and outside education
Interdisciplinary/integrated teaching
Mathematics in visual art and in crafts
Arts in mathematics

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Developing a Procedure to Transfer Geometrical Constraints from the Plane into Space
(International Society for Geometry and Graphics, 1998) Knoll, Eva
Topology teaches us that the two dimensional plane and three dimensional space have a comparable structure. In fact, this apparent parallel is deeply rooted in our consciousness and is applied in many domains, including various fields in the design industry, through the use of such tools as descriptive geometry and perspective drawing. From the particular point of view of the designer, however, this parallel in structure has often been simplified to plans, sections and elevations i.e. 2-D slices through a 3-D object. It has therefore not been an integral part of the design process, but rather a tool of representation of the design process. In the following paper, the relationship between plane and space will be explored as a design element. The question will be answered whether it is possible, starting with a 2-dimensional system of design parameters, to construct a 3-dimensional object based on the spatial equivalents of the initial parameters. To illustrate this process, the painting Opus 84 of Hans Hinterreiter (1902-1992), a Swiss Concrete painter, will be re-interpreted in space.
Barn-Raising an Endo-Pentakis-Icosi-Dodecahedron
(Bridges: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music, and Science, 1999) Knoll, Eva; Morgan, Simon
The workshop is planned as the raising of an endo-pentakis-icosi-dodecahedron with a 1 meter edge length. This collective experience will give the participants new insights about polyhedra in general, and deltahedra in particular. The specific method of construction applied here, using kite technology and the snowflake layout allows for a perspective entirely different from that found in the construction of hand-held models or the observation of computer animations. In the present case, the participants will be able to pace the area of the flat shape and physically enter the space defined by the polyhedron.
From the circle to the icosahedron
(Bridges: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music, and Science, 2000) Knoll, Eva
The following exercise is based on experiments conducted in circular Origami. This type of paper folding allows for a completely different geometry than the square type since it lends itself very easily to the creation of shapes based on 30-60-90 degree angles. This allows for experimentation with shapes made up of equilateral triangles such as deltahedra. The results of this research were used in Annenberg sponsored activities conducted in a progressive middle school in Houston TX, as well as a workshop presented at the 1999 Bridges Conference in Winfield, KS. Not including preparatory and follow up work by the teacher, the activities in Houston were composed of two main parts, the collaborative construction of a three-yard-across, eighty-faced regular deltahedron (the Endo- Pentakis Icosi-dodecahedron) and the following exercise. The barn-raising was presented last year in Winfield, and the paper folding is the topic of this paper.
Polyhedra, Learning by Building: Design and Use of a Math-Ed. Tool.
(Bridges: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music, and Science, 2000) Knoll, Eva
This is a preliminary report on design features of large, light-weight, modular equilateral triangles and classroom activities developed for using them. They facilitate the fast teaching of three dimensional geometry together with basic math skills, and create a lasting motivational impact on low achievers and their subsequent performance in math and science. In directed discovery activities, lasting from 20 to 90 minutes, large models of basic polyhedra are made, enabling their properties to be explored. Faces, edges and vertices can all be counted and tabulated, providing opportunities to see number patterns and inter-relationships, to plot graphs, to extract algebraic relationships and to look for proofs of those relationships. These building activities can be kept central, under the teacher’s control for large classes with limited time, or building can be split out into groups of children where co-operative problem solving skills are also developed. In interviews, children have stressed the effectiveness of learning by building the shapes themselves. In classroom activities, it is clear to see that these triangles make children excited. Learning by building gives a concrete, active, authentic and personal experience of mathematics to children and teachers enabling them to feel the full excitement of the subject.
Decomposing Deltahedra
(International Society of the Arts, Mathematics, and Architecture, 2000) Knoll, Eva
Deltahedra are polyhedra with all equilateral triangular faces of the same size. We consider a class of we will call ‘regular’ deltahedra which possess the icosahedral rotational symmetry group and have either six or five triangles meeting at each vertex. Some, but not all of this class can be generated using operations of subdivision, stellation and truncation on the platonic solids. We develop a method of generating and classifying all deltahedra in this class using the idea of a generating vector on a triangular grid that is made into the net of the deltahedron. We observed and proved a geometric property of the length of these generating vectors and the surface area of the corresponding deltahedra. A consequence of this is that all deltahedra in our class have an integer multiple of 20 faces, starting with the icosahedron which has the minimum of 20 faces.
Circular Origami: a Survey of Recent Results
(A.K Peters, 2001) Knoll, Eva
Preliminary Field Explorations in K-6 Math-Ed: the Giant Triangles as Classroom Manipulatives
(Bridges: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music, and Science, 2002) Knoll, Eva; Morgan, Simon
The present paper reports on children’s investigations using the giant equilateral triangles from the Geraldine Project2. It took place at the De Zavala Elementary School as the initial stage of a project in mathematics education. The triangles are a part of a modular construction kit made using kite technology. Their size, sturdiness and light weight make them ideal for in-class activities with children of all ages and stages of development. The school is located in a low socio-economic hispanic neighbourhood consisting of blue-collar families living in apartments and rental houses as well as small businesses and industries. Most of the students at the school are recent immigrants from Mexico or Central America or first generation born to immigrant families. Their parents have little or no education and are forced to work on jobs that entail long hours, frequently into the evening or night. This situation makes it difficult for parents to provide their children with appropriate support as students. At this stage, the structure of the activities that make up lessons emerged from the response of the children as the activities were tried. This approach, despite its unplanned nature, allowed for the introduction of much mathematical content, and the attention of the children was relatively easy to catch and hold. The activities successfully combined the play aspect of the giant triangles with the mathematical concept explorations that the instructors overlayed. In some cases the children were allowed to build their own shapes, which were then examined with them. The outcome of these trial activities was then used as a basis for lesson planning in later stages of the pilot project.
Life after Escher: a (Young) Artist’s Journey
(Springer-Verlag, 2002) Knoll, Eva
From a Subdivided Tetrahedron to the Dodecahedron: Exploring Regular Colorings
(Bridges: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music, and Science, 2002) Knoll, Eva
The following paper recounts the stages of a stroll through symmetry relationships between the regular tetrahedron whose faces were subdivided into symmetrical kites and the regular dodecahedron. I will use transformations such as stretching edges and faces and splitting vertices. The simplest non-adjacent regular coloring, which illustrates inherent symmetry properties of regular solids, will help to keep track of the transformations and reveal underlying relationships between the polyhedra. In the conclusion, we will make observations about the handedness of the various stages, and discuss the possibility of applying the process to other regular polyhedra.
Finding the Dual of the Tetrahedral-Octahedral Space Filler
(Bridges: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music, and Science, 2003) Knoll, Eva
The goal of this paper is to illustrate how octahedra and tetrahedra pack together to fill space, and to identify and visualize the dual to this packing. First, we examine a progression of 2-D and 3-D space-filling packings that relate the tetrahedral-octahedral space-filling packing to the packing of 2-D space by squares. The process will use a combination of stretching, truncation and 2-D to 3-D correspondence. Through slicing, we will also relate certain stages of the process back to simple 2-D packings such as the triangular grid and the 3.6.3.6 Archimedean tiling of the plane. Second, we will illustrate the meaning of duality as it relates to polygons, polyhedra and 2-D and 3-D packings. At a later stage, we will reason out the dual packing of the tetrahedral-octahedral packing. Finally, we will demonstrate that it is indeed a 3-D space filler in its own right by showing different construction methods.

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