Questions tagged [mathematical-pedagogy]
for questions on general considerations and problems of teaching mathematics, i.e., issues specific to teaching mathematics yet relevant to various contexts and courses.
1
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3answers
204 views
Could students learn a lot more from school if they're only taught number theory until way later?
According to https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/science-says-were-sending-our-kids-to-school-much-too-early-and-that-can-hurt-th.html, when students get taught a concept when they're so young, they're ...
4
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0answers
61 views
Long-form, multi-step, skills-integrating applied mathematics problems in calculus I, II, III
When recently teaching Calculus II to college students, I instructed my students to read and be ready to work through the first 8 or so questions of James Walsh's climate modeling differential ...
0
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3answers
95 views
How can I measure the mathematical computation skills of high school students through a test?
How to analyze the level of difficulty of mathematical computation of a problem on a standard mathematical test designed for high school students? I mean how to choose some indices that can reflect ...
0
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1answer
130 views
Grades in a university course on category theory, curving, and how they reflect on the students and/or teacher [closed]
I originally posted this on the Mathematics Stack Exchange, thinking that the best place to post it, but the question quickly accumulated a bunch of close votes since it was not quite within the scope ...
4
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2answers
73 views
A Markov chain demonstration that doesn't require computers
I have a large probability class and would like to do some memorable demonstrations of Markov chains for them. Does anyone have any recommendations for a "low-tech" demo that doesn't involve ...
4
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6answers
296 views
How to make a student not overlook easy mistakes such as the wrong sign
I am teaching entry calculus to a bunch of students outside class (more like complementary to their math classes, without making much connections) and I can teach on a much more individual level than ...
6
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2answers
173 views
Mainstreaming math student
I'm working one-on-one with a student who is part of a sponsored refugee family. He's bright and a good learner, but has had a lot of interruptions to his education. No indication of any learning ...
0
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2answers
95 views
Returning Student for STEM - Brush-Up Resources? [closed]
All,
I am hoping to wade into an Electrical Engineering or Mechanical Engineering degree, but I have been out of college for almost 10 years. My last major exposure to math was good grades in ...
4
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2answers
577 views
Should young math students be taught an abstract concept of form?
Should a more general concept of the "form" of an equation or expression, be taught to math students as young as elementary school? I'm a fairly new tutor--do more experienced teachers think this ...
1
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0answers
115 views
What are some main issues of teaching math at the elementary level? [closed]
I was wondering what are some issues that most of you (or teachers whom you might know) encounter in teaching mathematics at the elementary level. For example, I've recently had a conversation with ...
5
votes
0answers
114 views
Flow diagrams and summarizing strategies in proof-computation courses: good or bad for learning? Unsuitable for Inquiry-based learning?
For concreteness lets keep our discussion to calculus courses where there is a balance of proof and computations (computing limits but also doing epsilon-delta proofs)
I can understand that in more ...
5
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2answers
134 views
What are some suggestions fo teaching statistics concepts to struggling college students?
I'm a private math tutor. I'm fairly new at this, and this semester is the first time I've been tutoring for a statistics class at a community college. I enjoy experimenting and learning about ways to ...
0
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0answers
158 views
why did common core remove so many topics from Algebra II?
I don't understand why common core: High School Algebra II (NYC, NY, USA) removed so many topics. I think these ideas are pretty important and useful (especially since a handful of these topics come ...
0
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1answer
100 views
Verifying Simple Expression Equivalence in a Spreadsheet
For simple expressions with easily derived canonical forms (eg polynomials and simple rational expressions), is there a way to leverage existing tools to verify that two expressions are equal when ...
4
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1answer
149 views
Is it feasible to expose undergraduates to a “map”-centric point of view early on?
Question: Would it be feasible to teach undergraduate math students a "map"-centric view early on? If so, how early on?
Now that I'm preparing for a phd program, I'm also reflecting on my ...
2
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1answer
131 views
Existing Tools for Math Expression Equivalence Logic
Note - this question was posted here and garnered some decent replies before it was closed as off-topic in Stack Overflow.
Online systems, such as ALEKS, Cengage's WebAssign, and even Khan Academy ...
6
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2answers
239 views
On fractions and least common multiple
At least in my country, the explanation of the basic operations over rational numbers is done very near to the concept of primer number, prime factorization and calculus of least common multiple. In ...
4
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2answers
163 views
Why bother completing the square to find the minimum/maximum of a quadratic function?
Given a question like
Find the coordinates of the minimum point on the curve $y=3x^2+2x+9$.
students are often taught to solve this by completing the square.
The class I am currently teaching ...
10
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3answers
203 views
Quizzes (with questions known in advance) instead of homework in a graduate mathematics class. Good Idea or Bad Idea? Pros and Cons?
I'm teaching a graduate course in mathematics next semester. I'm planning to have a midterm and a final exam. But I'm thinking about having weekly (or once-every-two-weeks) in-class quizzes instead of ...
4
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0answers
95 views
Why is problem solving important for all of us?
I am looking for academic references related to this questions. In fact, I need to write a paper which shows the importance of problem-solving approach for everyone. Certainly, this should include ...
49
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13answers
8k views
How to get past the “mystique” of Maths
This question is primarily discussing maths education for adult learners, on courses teaching engineering mathematics at an undergraduate level. These students generally never set out specifically to ...
9
votes
1answer
266 views
How to deal with poor students who don't take notes?
I want to set the context for me asking this question before stating it properly.
I teach at college/university level. This question deals with first-year students, fresh from school. So think ...
4
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2answers
107 views
Exposure to Algebra 2/Calculus Under Time Constraints
As part of a free summer enrichment program for highly-motivated high school students, I need to plan eight hour-long lessons for mini-courses titled as "Algebra 2" and "Calculus" separately. Despite ...
2
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2answers
122 views
Ideas for high-school proof class?
I have a math degree and have been hired to teach a proof class at a summer program. Our goal is to help the students learn the material they need for school (they take an algebra class separately) ...
14
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3answers
354 views
What to do if all students lack prerequisites?
I am teaching a calculus class for business this summer (6 students) and all of them do not have the math background needed for the class. We are supposed to cover derivatives and integrals, but they ...
5
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2answers
164 views
How to explain NP-hardness and NP-completeness to students
Computer science is becoming more and more important for mathematicians nowadays. Terms like big data, algorithm, artificial intelligence and others are frequently on the news. Many mathematical ...
13
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2answers
320 views
Is higher-math pedagogy responding properly to Wolfram Alpha's existence?
Is the current state of math teaching in undergrad college courses struggling with the availability of easy cheap access to Wolfram Alpha?
The homework problem below, one of 40 assigned from one ...
6
votes
2answers
205 views
Effective Assessment that's Easy to Grade
A colleague of mine will be teaching 3 classes (pre-calculus and two sections of calculus, at the university level) next semester with an additional grader in only one of those classes (pre-calculus). ...
15
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13answers
2k views
Mnemonics for some properties in mathematics
I am looking for various mnemonics which help students to remember some important properties or theorems. Very often students confuse signs or relations such as $\leq$ and $\geq$ in some expressions. ...
1
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3answers
161 views
when should we teach basic complex algebra?
I am teaching Differential Equations this semester. The pre-req is Calculus II, not even Multivariable Calculus. I made my peace with that, can't fight with the big-shots of the department. So, I have ...
11
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4answers
296 views
How would you introduce Frullani integral to students?
Some integration techniques are just "tricks", while some integrals are analytically significant in that they connect different fields of math or they embody higher level concepts.
In the commonly ...
13
votes
3answers
217 views
Does education research support the idea that answer keys are bad?
I am a physics grad student and several of my professors have stated that they are against the idea of posting answer keys (i.e., worked solutions) for homework and/or tests (after the assignment has ...
67
votes
15answers
18k views
What's a replacement for “married couples” in combinatorics problems?
Many counting problems start with the assumption that we have a certain number of men and women or a certain number of couples, with the assumption (often unstated) being that that gender is binary (...
13
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4answers
265 views
Pedagogical advice/articles for graduate student teaching assistants
Are there any good pedagogical resources or articles that you would recommend to math graduate student teaching assistants (TAs)? Is there any sweeping advice that you would give a TA to improve their ...
18
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5answers
675 views
Inability to work with an arbitrary mathematical object
This question is motivated by student responses to homework and quiz problems I have recently posed in an undergraduate real analysis course. I will share some examples and observations first, to ...
12
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1answer
207 views
How to write proofs on the board in the classroom
I'm teaching an introductory analysis course, and I am seeking some feedback on how proofs should be written on the board in class in order to maximize learning. I realize that there is an opinion-...
27
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10answers
8k views
How should a student's inefficient calculation be pointed out?
One time I watched a student solve the equation $0 = (x-2)^2-9$ for $x$ like this.
$$\begin{align*}
0 &= (x-2)^2-9
\\0 &= (x^2-4x+4)-9
\\0 &= x^2-4x-5
\\0 &= (x+1)(x-...
10
votes
3answers
297 views
How to teach a student algebra who misses too much previous knowledge?
I am now tutoring a student in Grade 9, who falls behind in math study. He lacks the basic understanding of operations and inverse operations, and have trouble dealing with negative numbers and ...
10
votes
2answers
125 views
Cognitive demands of a mathematical task
I'm looking for a theoretical framework to classify a task based on its cognitive demand.
I only have the Smith and Stein's (1998) proposal and PISA framework such as my principal references. In ...
4
votes
3answers
213 views
When discussing inverse functions, how can our notation and methods reinforce student understanding?
Yesterday in my precalculus class, I decided to teach students how to find the formula for an inverse function in a new way (to me).
In this curriculum, they have already used the notation $f^{-1}(x)$...
0
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3answers
145 views
Advice for Community College Interview Statistics Demonstration
In a few weeks i'll be interviewing at a community college in California for a tenured Mathematics position. They've asked me to present the following in only 12 minutes. I'd appreciate any ...
5
votes
2answers
118 views
Course of action with 13 year old with weak sense of number and operations
One of my private students is a 13year old girl who started school at age 5 (instead of the regular 6, in my country).
Testimony from parents show she had no sense of number at the time, would not ...
3
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0answers
63 views
Research on how to teach math to children - what proven approaches are there to teaching math effectively? [closed]
I posted a related question on the Math.SE, but was directed here where I'm asking an similar but different question.
I've been tasked with helping to redesign a math curriculum for an enrichment ...
2
votes
0answers
191 views
Introduction of the power set as a collection of *labels* or *names* for subsets
The way that naïve set theory is usually presented in undergraduate education is via very concrete examples of sets, often involving non-mathematical elements. When power sets are treated, having a ...
4
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0answers
163 views
Mathematics Self-Efficacy Questionnaire
Good Day!
I need help in finding a free validated and reliable tool in assessing (elementary or high school) students' Mathematics Self-Efficacy.
10
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4answers
375 views
Surrounding a subject and strangling it to death versus concentrating on the main point
Standard calculus textbooks begin by introducing limits, including
limits of a fraction as the numerator and denominator approach $0,$
limits of a fraction as the numerator and denominator approach $\...
9
votes
4answers
640 views
May we permit identities to be established by equivalent equations?
A trigonometry text like Sullivan's Algebra & Trigonometry often has a prohibition like this (Sec. 7.3):
WARNING: Be careful not to handle identities to be established as if they were ...
6
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1answer
148 views
Easy and good book on combinatorial problems
I am searching for a book on combinatorics and/or mathematical puzzles for very beginners in easy English. The book should not contain detail mathematical expressions, will contain easy understanding ...
13
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7answers
780 views
Problem “seeing” the perimeter of a figure
I was helping a home-schooled student with her homework when we came upon several images of figures that we were supposed to find the perimeter of. In several of the figures, some of the lengths were ...
6
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3answers
294 views
What is the ULTIMATE Calculus syllabus
After such amazing answers I got here for a related question (link at the end if someone still wants to share with me their views)...
Here is the concept:
If you were to create the ULTIMATE Calculus ...
