Mathematics Educators Stack Exchange
Mathematics Educators Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
14
votes
3 answers

Chat software for "online office hours"

I am planning to do "online office hours" for students in math courses (undergrad level). My motivation is: To give the students the possibility to ask questions remotely To give the students the possibility to ask questions anonymously To give…
Dirk
  • 2,992
  • 15
  • 24
14
votes
7 answers

Calling on students by name (who do not volunteer) in math classes

I was reading answers to this question today when I realized we never had this followup question: How do you effectively call on students by name in a math class? As a way to encourage class participation and class preparation, many of my…
Chris Cunningham
  • 21,474
  • 6
  • 63
  • 148
14
votes
7 answers

How should I introduce the concept of a function to a precalculus student?

My brother has not taken a math class in $10-15$ years. He is studying for the GRE so I have been teaching him a chapter or two from my precalculus book. So far, he has learned (and excelled at) basic algebra skills such as factoring quadratics,…
Ovi
  • 725
  • 4
  • 12
14
votes
1 answer

Do electronic calculators inhibit mathematical thinking?

I am interested in educators real-world experience or being pointed to any research in this area. I have a student whose arithmetic skills are weak for his/her age. The student counts on his/her fingers when attempting to multiply, struggles to add…
Clive Long
  • 532
  • 2
  • 10
14
votes
3 answers

What are the "best" groups to use as examples while learning new concepts in algebra?

This question was asked to Math SE at first but it seems like it is more appropriate to ask it here. While learning new concepts in algebra it is quite helpful to check some examples which includes the groups that we are familiar with, like…
Ninja
  • 311
  • 1
  • 4
14
votes
4 answers

What is currently called geometry in high school?

I've encountered classes of 25 or so undergraduates in which more than half -- maybe two-thirds -- of the students claim to have had a high-school geometry course but none has seen a proof of the Pythagorean theorem or the proof of any theorem in…
Michael Hardy
  • 1,885
  • 11
  • 24
14
votes
2 answers

Does learning classical approach to differential geometry before modern approach help or hinder?

To my mind, there seem to be two main paths to differential geometry. There is the classical approach, focusing on curves and surfaces in $\mathbb{R}^n$, especially $\mathbb{R}^3$. Prerequisites tend to be multivariable calculus and linear algebra.…
J W
  • 4,654
  • 2
  • 22
  • 44
14
votes
2 answers

What are some activities/projects I can assign to calculus students from bio/chem/physics majors to specifically motivate their interest?

(This question was proposed during the area51 phase.) It's common for chemistry/biology/physics majors to be required to take certain calculus courses. At my school, chem/bio students must take up through Calc II (integration, separable diff eqs,…
Brendan W. Sullivan
  • 10,779
  • 1
  • 38
  • 82
14
votes
5 answers

For purposes of teaching, should constant functions be considered "linear functions"?

I can see arguments both for and against classifying constant functions as linear functions. Against: "Linear function" means "first-degree polynomial function", and constant functions are not first-degree. For: "Linear function" means…
mweiss
  • 17,341
  • 1
  • 41
  • 89
14
votes
5 answers

When is it a good idea to avoid talking about why something works?

I am teaching, among other things, a college algebra course this semester. In this course we do a lot of conceptual things but we also do some techniques to prepare students for calculus. One of the techniques is dealing with equations that involve…
Chris Cunningham
  • 21,474
  • 6
  • 63
  • 148
14
votes
5 answers

Soft questions for 8 - 12 year olds

I am concluding my second year in mathematics at the university of Milan. I also happen to be an educator for 8 - 12 year old children (as a Scout). Recently I have tried to fill some dead time by asking my kids some soft math/logic questions and…
Riccardo Orlando
  • 263
  • 1
  • 8
14
votes
4 answers

Is there research for or against such an approach in teaching calculus?

Copying from Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus Thompson (2nd ed., 1914): CHAPTER I:TO DELIVER YOU FROM THE PRELIMINARY TERRORS The preliminary terror, which chokes off most fifth-form boys from even attempting to learn how to calculate, can be…
Alecos Papadopoulos
  • 1,542
  • 8
  • 16
14
votes
3 answers

Resource request: incorrect "proofs" for undergrads to correct/critique

I am teaching an intro to proof course for undergraduate math majors at a medium-sized american research university. I would like to provide my students with some incorrect proofs for the purpose of having them critique or correct the work of…
David Steinberg
  • 3,890
  • 18
  • 36
14
votes
2 answers

What to do to get a class back on track?

I am teaching Calculus I this semester and it's not going well. There are roughly 30 students registered for the course but for any given lecture, only 1-4 students show up. Attendance has been consistently declining throughout this semester. I'm…
user545
  • 141
  • 3
14
votes
4 answers

Proofs that make theorems less clear

Teaching Theory of Computation for the first time, I encountered a phenomenon which perhaps is familiar to others in different contexts. I realize most MESE participants are not conversant with Th.Comp., so I will just sketch the issue at a high…
Joseph O'Rourke
  • 29,827
  • 6
  • 61
  • 140
1 2 3
…
99 100