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305 views

How to explain loss of significance in numerical analysis?

As I have myself struggled a bit with this concept, I would like to present my own explanation of it. Context: Loss of significance is a loss of precision, not necessarily accuracy. And for a long ...
2k views

Is Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus P. Thompson a good book for first-time calculus learners?

Specifically the one updated by Martin Gardner. I'm not studying as part of a high school or college course (I, in the near future, will though) just as a personal project.
558 views

Trials and instructions on proofs

So, in more advanced courses and fields in math like undergraduate and more advanced, how does one make a proof? He makes trials of everything he knows about the problem? What are the instructions to ...
163 views

Is there an **official** name for the following "digit reduction" operation? [closed]

In one of my programs I have a function I call reduce(n) which associates to n the recursive sum of ...
53 views

Implementing Standards for Mathematical Practice in CCSS(M) (Proficiency Education)

I use the CCSS(M) and proficiency education to assess students. Is it okay to repeat the standards here when assessing students for proficiency-based education? The idea of these standards in my ...
6k views

How does one tutor an A-level student past the derivative paradox?

Background: I am new to this site, but have 1500 reputation on the main Maths Stack. I am (age-wise) a secondary student of maths, but for a very long time have been informally learning at home and ...
551 views

Computing eigenvalues by hand without determinants

I'm teaching a linear algebra class and I'm considering presenting eigenvectors and eigenvalues without using determinants, as in Axler's book Linear Algebra Done Right. (See also Axler's paper "...
173 views

Are there measurements of how much mathematics people remember after high-school?

These days I got curious about something: Are there measurements of how much mathematics people remember after high-school?
106 views

Math Modeling search results data set

This year, I will be teaching a Math Modeling course to a group of motivated high school students. One topic we will discuss is providing good search results from an online query. Here's the problem. ...
221 views

Research on Waldorf/Steiner mathematics education

I am broadly interested in research on mathematics education in the Waldorf/Steiner educational context, primarily in the upper secondary school setting, but not exclusively. Information about Waldorf/...
122 views

Resources to qualify for AIME

I am trying to qualify for AIME this year and get a score of at least $5$ or $6$. (If anyone doesn't know, AIME is the American Invitational Mathematics Examination. You need to get a decent score on ...
71 views

Which grade students should be able to solve applied economy / business / profit prediction exercises?

I've designed a few applied problems with business analytics/money calculations. However, I'm not sure which age (or rather, which grade) are those best to introduce. on one hand, solution uses only +...
173 views

I have taught some SBG courses in the past, and I am planning on converting all of my courses to SBG. I have enjoyed teaching these courses, I believe that students have learned more, and students ...
411 views

Should we assess ability to use specific problem solving methods, or general ability to solve problems?

This is my first semester being an instructor of record for a college algebra course. One of the sections we cover is "methods of solving quadratic equations", where we discuss factoring and ...
418 views

Resources for mathematics for sustainability

I am looking for resources (books, websites, etc.) for mathematics relevant to or in the context of sustainability, broadly construed, at upper secondary or early undergraduate level - so not ...
189 views

What is a good math "curriculum" for a mathematically precocious 4-year old?

I am parent to a 4-year-old son who is mathematically precocious. An example of what I mean (since I'm sure guys like Gauss were proving theorems at 4): He multiplies and divides small numbers easily,...
151 views

How can maths assistants at a college be extra helpful for professors?

I am a maths graduate student. A little background: In the coming semester, I will be assisting a prof whom I admire and whom I also want to thank a lot, and I actually will have a lot of free time. ...
79 views

Can anyone help give pointers of Mathematics Story Telling Animated Videos for Age Group 10 - 15?

Ideally, these videos should talk about a real life problem which student can relate to and then showing logically how the problem can be solved. Later bringing in the right mathematical tool to solve ...
69 views

Reference request: an introduction to triangular, square, and other figurate numbers

There are dozens (maybe thousands) of websites that explain what triangular numbers, square numbers, etc. are. I'm searching for a printed book that includes this material, preferably at a level that ...
306 views

Why are math test scores dropping in America? Lack of student responsibility movement [closed]

Someone asked me this question today. Why do you honestly believe that high school math test scores in America (particularly the United States) are low compared to other countries? I thought about ...
1k views

Is there a place where I can buy well made calculus 2 and calculus 3 lesson plans and power points?

Is there a place where I can buy well made calculus 2 and calculus 3 lesson plans and power points? There is a good chance I'll be having my first semester of full time teaching next semester. If so, ...
269 views

Real before complex analysis or vice versa?

I used to learn Real Analysis before Complex Analysis in my bachelor study, but now the order is reversed in my university. I would like to ask which order is better to learn the subjects, and which ...
45 views

Which websites provide real-time updated Jupyter notebooks for Python teaching? [closed]

Often, I find it useful to teach some Python to students. In-person classes are easy in this regard, I can just go to colab.research.google.com and show them the concepts there. (It requires no ...
6k views

Why is differential calculus often presented before integral calculus?

Why is differential calculus often presented before integral calculus? Note: I'm still learning calculus at the moment. It seems that many elementary calculus texts describe differential calculus ...
778 views

Why so many single-variable calculus textbooks? But still no equivalents to Visual Group Theory or Complex Analysis for other subjects?

OUP published Visual Complex Analysis in 1999. MAA published Visual Group Theory in 2009. But no visualization counterparts have been published for other subjects like (Commutative) Algebra, ...
759 views

Does the way we often introduce the concept of a function make sense?

Here are some ideas and a few questions I've been pondering lately related to the teaching of functions in college algebra and precalculus: Based on my experience, the teaching of functions usually ...
265 views

Applications of the annihilator from linear algebra

I am currently assisting a course for future teachers at university level for a joint education in maths and physics in Germany and I have a question regarding the use and possible application of the ...
588 views

Looking for copies of Vasily Vasilovich Davydov's mathematics curriculum

From The Development of Algebra in the Elementary Mathematics Curriculum of V.V. Davydov (by Jean Schmittau, State University of New York at Binghamton , and Anne Morris , University of Delaware ) one ...
225 views

Is there a book or Web site that explains how to use and teach the Singapore math block model?

I have been examining sites that illustrate the use of the block model for solving problems. I am an adult with a degree in math and I have an interest in seeing how math can be taught. From what I ...
421 views

When I was an undergrad studying abstract algebra, we used the second edition of Artin and covered groups first and then rings. Fields, vector spaces, and algebras came later, I think. I remember ...
151 views

Peter Liljedahl "Thinking Classroom" pedagogy: what is evidence for its effectiveness?

Peter Liljedahl discusses a lot about "thinking classrooms". There is research and books, which show, that his methods transform classes from "non-thinking" to "thinking"....
215 views

How to get student with ADHD to practice exercises consistently

Background I have recently started tutoring a 14-year-old student who is diagnosed with ADHD and was struggling with passing a basic math course (think basic linear equations systems, first and second ...
177 views

Highly intuitive yet comprehensive and easily readable (student friendly) book on linear algebra which do not focus much on applications, just basics

I came to know about Gilbert Strang's two books, "Introduction to Linear Algebra" and "Linear Algebra and its Applications". The first is the one used as the text in the 18.06 ...
202 views

What is the English word for the French "repère"?

I'm preparing a holiday class in computer graphics. The class will be held in English. I'm a French speaker and I'm fighting with some words which have lots of meanings to find the right one in the ...
206 views

Making the leap from Pre-Calculus to Calculus

This question is targeted at teachers who taught both low and high level mathematics. I have a group of students that I'm currently teaching precalculus and they seem to be doing really well in all ...
435 views

Creating an Engaging Class Atmosphere

I would like to start out next year by creating a classroom community. This year I noticed a lot of burnout towards the second half of the year. Basically, I want to see what kinds of games/activities ...
703 views

Teaching Mathematics to a Machine Learning Class

How and what mathematics must be taught for training engineering students with the mathematics required for Machine Learning? How can one conduct training of mathematics required for application-...
169 views

A linear equation -- my approach

Here is an example of a lesson I did on linear equations where my objective was to show that they are equations of first degree. The reason I do it this way is because I tend to find that students ...
2k views

Big list of "interesting" abstract vector spaces

When introducing an abstraction it is important (in my opinion) to have a wide variety of examples of this abstraction. Since finite dimensional real vector spaces are classified up to isomorphism by ...
194 views

Teaching words with multiple meanings in Mathematics and English

We want to teach about words that have multiple meanings, in mathematics and English for middle school children (e.g., function, root, or, volume, angle, constant). This is for students who are ...
1k views

How do math professors select textbooks?

I will describe what I mean by the above with an example. Suppose you are a professor, about to teach a first Calculus course in a university. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of calculus books out ...
120 views

Textbooks with solutions and catering to different circumstances

Questions: Are we really taking students into account FULLY when writing textbooks for various areas? Also, are we being unintentionally elitist or dismissive when neglecting to take a more humble ...
2k views

An introductory example for Taylor series (12th grade)

I (a student) am doing a presentation on Taylor series in my class (12th grade, in Germany if this is relevant). I am looking for a good example where you can see when Taylor series might be useful. ...
2k views

Why can an easily graphable definite integral, be labyrinthine to evaluate?

How can I explain to 16-year-olds, who just started calculus, why it's so nettlesome and tricky to symbolically integrate definite integrals, when their graphs look so unremarkable and straightforward?...
164 views

Not sure what a student is misunderstanding on this Stat question

Here is the solution I presented: (a) P(G|B) = (5/24) * (.125) = .026. Since you select ONE senior manager, then P(B) is 4/23. Now, if we are dealing with a second employee who is also a senior ...
181 views

How to explain continuity and differentiability to highschool students? [closed]

I would say continuity is the idea that points numerically close to the input point of a function agree with the value of the function at that point. Now, suppose I introduce the idea of a derivative, ...
489 views

Proportional density function question

Here is a question I gave on an exam last year. Please let me know what you think of the question (eg: if it is a fair question, easy, difficult, etc). A lot of students were upset for questions like ...
9k views

Response to Students Who Say "This Is Not Important"

Lately, my students keep telling me why what we are learning is not important. They ask me when will we use this in the real world? I explain how math is important in gambling, cooking, finance, ...