Mathematics Educators Stack Exchange
Mathematics Educators Stack Exchange

Most Popular

more tags
1500 questions
14
votes
4 answers

Is Khan academy really good?

At first glance, I thought Khan academy was a good site for teaching people math. After trying it out, I quickly found that the topics were very limited. So is Khan academy actually as good as I hear some claim to me? If you decide to take one or…
Simply Beautiful Art
  • 1,572
  • 1
  • 14
  • 23
14
votes
3 answers

Research/Anecdotes supporting WebWork, MyMathLab and other computerized, immediate feedback HW

When I was a student in college (very recently), my college had implemented a program called WebWork to give immediate feedback on homework problems. Other systems like MyMathLab exist as well. Distinguishing features of such a system tend to…
Opal E
  • 3,986
  • 18
  • 45
14
votes
3 answers

What's the most effective way to introduce/motivate the anti-derivative of $\sec x$?

When teaching calculus, I often present the indefinite integral $$ \int \sec x \, dx = \ln | \sec x + \tan x | + C. $$ I am looking for ways to motivate this anti-derivative rather than just tell the students the answer and show them how to verify…
Michael Joyce
  • 2,611
  • 15
  • 20
14
votes
2 answers

Colored chalk recommendations

Background: I am a fourth year math graduate student in the US. Perhaps you will think this question silly, but I intend for it to be a serious question. In teaching courses such as calculus and analysis, I frequently find myself wanting to use…
AegisCruiser
  • 1,429
  • 8
  • 19
14
votes
3 answers

Theme of a Differential Equations Course

I am tasked with teaching an introductory differential equations course. In my experience, this course tends to be a laundry list of methods that apply to specific forms of differential equations where each form needs to be memorized. I think such…
Jason Siefken
  • 391
  • 1
  • 3
14
votes
2 answers

How early to start "abstract" math education, or, How to prevent smart kids from never getting exposed to math?

Everybody who is in graduate mathematics had a moment where they realized that mathematics was "their thing", and they decided to dedicate their academic career to it. I don't know of many people who decided this before their fourth semester or so,…
JustAskin
  • 249
  • 1
  • 6
13
votes
3 answers

Teaching Infinitesmals and Non-Standard Analysis

This question is asked from a self-teacher standpoint(I am currently trying to learn more about non-standard analysis on my own), but I'd think it could be applicable to educators also. What are good textbooks for non-standard analysis that goes in…
ruler501
  • 530
  • 3
  • 11
13
votes
3 answers

Any suggestions on how to approach recursion and induction?

Much mathematics is intimately tied to recursion, be it in definitions (like factorials and integer powers) and proofs by induction. This is also very relevant in computer science and programming. However, it is my experience that students have a…
vonbrand
  • 12,306
  • 3
  • 27
  • 59
13
votes
2 answers

A simple explanation or derivation of Cramer's rule, suitable for secondary Algebra 2?

I am tutoring a high school student in Algebra 2. Her class has just covered systems of linear equations, mainly via the "substitution" and "elimination" methods. Her textbook concludes that unit with Cramer's rule (which is only used for 2 x 2…
mweiss
  • 17,341
  • 1
  • 41
  • 89
13
votes
4 answers

Using $dx$ for $h$ in the definition of derivative

Is it mathematically correct to write $$f'(x)=\lim_{dx\to0}\frac{f(x+dx)-f(x)}{dx},$$ rather than $$f'(x)=\lim_{h\to0}\frac{f(x+h)-f(x)}{h}?$$ If not, what is the difference? If so, why isn't this notation used from the beginning? My feeling for…
John Molokach
  • 233
  • 1
  • 5
13
votes
4 answers

Explaining the phrase "in terms of"

So, I'm a mathematics tutor, and I always run into this mental block that students have: they don't seem to understand what "in terms of" means. Also, the phrase "in terms of" is so useful, and it kind of frustrates me when student don't understand…
Jay
  • 233
  • 1
  • 5
13
votes
6 answers

How to think mathematically?

Later this year, high school teachers from the region will visit our university for a day and be given special lectures on different topics. I've been asked to give a talk with the title "How to think mathematically?". In addition to mathematical…
Dag Oskar Madsen
  • 2,570
  • 2
  • 20
  • 33
13
votes
1 answer

Seeking Concise Article on Motivations for and Benefits of Standards-Based Grading

I am preparing for my second year of implementing standards-based grading (SBG) in my 5th and 6th grade math course. I was thrilled with the benefits of using SBG with my students but found that I need to do more parent education. While I present a…
Tyler Auer
  • 171
  • 9
13
votes
2 answers

Teaching limits and asymptotics at the same time

Having never been a mathematics educator, my question could be stupid and, if this is the case, please delete it. When I was young, from the very beginning of limits, we were teached that there are two things to look at simultaneously : what is the…
Claude Leibovici
  • 279
  • 2
  • 7
13
votes
1 answer

High-school level algebra textbooks for gifted students

Note. I asked the question below on Math Stack Exchange (link), but didn't get a really satisfactory answer there, so I'm posting it here too. I am looking for high school algebra/mathematics textbooks targeted at talented students, as preparation…
Keith
  • 587
  • 2
  • 7
1 2 3
…
99 100