2
$\begingroup$

I have to teach sketching paraboloids on paper by looking at it's equation. Last year when I taught this topic no one was interested in learning this particular thing. They felt the topic difficult and utter waste of time with so much hard work to do. I know that at first it's difficult to visualize this topic and it becomes a pain to sketch them on paper. But I think it really develops an analytic approach towards coordinate geometry and mathematics in general.

How do I motivate students to take it seriously? Which online source can I refer to supplement my knowledge about this particular topic?

I don't want to repeat what happened last year.

$\endgroup$
9
  • $\begingroup$ To what end are you teaching them sketching 3 dimensional objects? $\endgroup$
    – Adam
    Mar 19, 2016 at 13:13
  • $\begingroup$ @Adam I have taught them tracing of conicoids now I want to teach them sketching. For example, sketch the sections of the following conicoids by the planes given alongside. 1. $2y^2 + z^2 = 4$ , the plane $x = y$ $\endgroup$
    – Heisenberg
    Mar 19, 2016 at 13:21
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ not a duplicate but definitely related and might be helpful matheducators.stackexchange.com/questions/7825/… $\endgroup$
    – celeriko
    Mar 19, 2016 at 14:55
  • $\begingroup$ @celeriko relieved to some extent because other profs. also face similar problem while teaching these topics in their clas. $\endgroup$
    – Heisenberg
    Mar 19, 2016 at 18:01
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ When I learned calc III, I had a professor who was uniquely charismatic. The one line of his that really stuck with me was that all of the greatest artists "knew" calculus, because they understood space. (In hindsight it's probably safer to say analytic geometry, but that's not as sexy!) I thought it was a pretty cool thing to say. This was specifically in reference to drawing quadric surfaces. $\endgroup$
    – pjs36
    Mar 22, 2016 at 13:59

0

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.