Questions tagged [calculations]

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2 votes
1 answer
224 views

How to teach if calculations and algebraic manipulations are off limits

This question may be just too broad in scope, but some form of it has been on my mind during this year of remote learning as I imagine a future cycle of educational upheaval. Much of what we teach in ...
Nick C's user avatar
  • 9,194
9 votes
1 answer
295 views

If a computer could be programmed to do a math test, then should those tests be changed?

Not only do calculators have solving capabilities, but some computer programs or websites also provide step-by-step solutions to questions (here is WolframAlpha's). Although I understand a logical ...
user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
209 views

Resources for improving computational skills at the high school/university transition

Teaching first year undergraduates, I've noticed that what gives them the most trouble is simple computations like factoring, expanding, handling fractions, powers, especially when variables and other ...
Thomas Richard's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
133 views

Student-friendly / efficient approach to computing Taylor coefficients of infinite binomial series expansions?

I’m working on a section of a course covering Taylor expansions, and have found that, although there is great notation for simplifying the formula for the coefficients of a general infinite binomial ...
Rax Adaam's user avatar
  • 229
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

Determining the first digit of the Quotient using hand long division efficiently?

For instance in the following problem: _____ 48)4368 To determine an initial 9 for the first number in the Quotient, you ...
leeand00's user avatar
  • 173
0 votes
1 answer
91 views

How to explain inverse modulo? [closed]

Do you know a (simple) inverse modulo calculator somewhere on the Internet? How to explain simply inverse modulo? (when the concept of modulo is already a bit known) How to explain someone how to ...
Quidam's user avatar
  • 111
11 votes
8 answers
13k views

Proof of why BODMAS (or BIDMAS) works?

In my first full-time teaching post, it is very likely that I'll need to be teaching a small amount of GCSE Mathematics to students retaking it. One thing that has been bugging me is that I can't seem ...
user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
267 views

Precision in student work

At the end of the school year, I gave my students a problem set related to the law of sines where many students engaged in approximation at various points. I noted two types of precision issues in ...
Will Schwartz's user avatar
10 votes
6 answers
657 views

How much detail should you show in algebra steps while teaching?

How much detail should you include when providing example solutions for students that involve algebra? I realize that this will of course depend on the level that the students are at. So I guess my ...
mkasberg's user avatar
  • 491
35 votes
5 answers
2k views

Questions with "round" answers only?

Textbook writers are blessed with only solving problems with neat answers. Numerical coefficients are small integers, many terms cancel, polynomials split into simple factors, angles have ...
vonbrand's user avatar
  • 12.3k
17 votes
5 answers
478 views

Amount of concrete calculations on board?

Imagine that you are teaching a high school class in the last years of high school, an undergraduate class in university, or you are a tutor of a small group at university. Should one provide ...
Markus Klein's user avatar
  • 9,388