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1500 questions
12
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3 answers
Best way to find out what math topics a person struggles with when tutoring
I will soon tutor someone I know in math. Because of the bad results on tests, combined with the feedback from the teacher, he has a very bad sense of achievement. Which in turn, has given him a low motivation for the subject. I think the problem is…
Smebbs
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12
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Correctness in learning mathematics
I came to mathematics via physics, in part because of the reputation of physics as allowing "non-rigorous" reasoning. The subject felt more free and less anal-retentive than mathematics. This is not to say that physics does not require care, but in…
Jon Bannon
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2 answers
Course-based undergraduate research experiences in math
"Course-based undergraduate research experiences" (CUREs, or CBEs) are being explored
in various STEM fields, especially biology,
chemistry, geology.
Here is one geology link that gives a flavor: "Are you looking for a CURE?" In the US, some of…
Joseph O'Rourke
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Why do we study ordinary differential equations?
What is a good answer to the question: Why should one study ordinary differential equations?
I would give the answer: ODEs are used in many models to determine how the state of this model is changing (regarding time or another variable). Thus, ODEs…
Stephan Kulla
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12
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3 answers
What is the correlation between students' contentment and educational quality?
In order to evaluate new educational material the contentment of students with this material is often measured. However, just because a student is contented doesn't mean that he/she has actually learned something. Is there any research investigating…
Stephan Kulla
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12
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4 answers
request for evidence about class perspectives in math word problems
A recent publication:
Anita Bright.
Education for Whom? Word Problems as Carriers of Cultural Values.
Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education. (Spring 2016). pp. 6-22.
Link No paywall.
observes that many textbook math word problems are from…
Glenn Davis
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12
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6 answers
Why does the widespread erroneous definition of "irrational number" persist without being taught?
Among the mathematically ignorant one often finds a mistaken proposed definition of "irrational number", which says that it is a number whose decimal expansion does not terminate or repeat.
The definition found in all textbooks I've seen and used by…
Michael Hardy
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A very tricky pseudo-proof of $0=-1$ through series and integrals
Dealing with a recent question I spotted a very nice exercise for Calc-2 students, i.e. to find the mistake in the following lines.
Lemma 1. For any $n\in\mathbb{N}$, we have: $$ \int_{0}^{1} x^n\left(1+(n+1)\log x\right)\,dx = 0. $$
Lemma 2.…
Jack D'Aurizio
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2 answers
How do you incorporate the results from a final exam into evidence of learning in a valid and justifiable way (i.e. grade determination)?
How do you incorporate the results from a final exam into evidence of learning in a valid and justifiable way (i.e. grade determination)?
This question is open to all education levels.
What is your weighting and the justification for this weight?…
Marian Minar
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12
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1 answer
Ideological Teaching in Logic Courses
Logic and its sub-fields are closely related to philosophy. There is an undeniable mutual interaction between one's philosophical point of view and his/her approach in teaching mathematical logic. In fact you can teach a particular course material…
user230
12
votes
2 answers
Benefits of students grading each other's (or their own) homework or quizzes?
I was wondering if there is any benefit to having undergraduate students swap homework and quizzes and grading them, with solutions that I provide.
I was thinking it might be helpful for them to compare another student's, or their own, solutions to…
Felix Y.
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3 answers
Summary of the mechanism of reification
The concept of "reification" in mathematics education is interesting. Roughly, if I understand this correctly, one "reifies" processes into mathematical objects. Very recently, it occurred to me that although this reification seems like a clear…
Jon Bannon
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12
votes
1 answer
How important is the act of writing his own script for the learning outcome?
There are several styles of delivering a lecture:
The lecturer uses the blackboard and the students write their own lecture notes.
The lecturer uses the blackboard and also provide a script so that the students are not forced to create their own…
Stephan Kulla
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12
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2 answers
Do "overview" sections increase learning outcome?
I write a math textbook for which I want to make an overview chapter for each part of the textbook. In those overview chapters I want to motivate and introduce the new mathematical concepts. I also want to answer questions like: Why do we need those…
Stephan Kulla
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12
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4 answers
Teaching algebra to visually impaired or blind students
I am currently writing an independent project investigating the teaching and learning of algebra for students with a visual impairment. I am struggling to find literature specifically about teaching mathematics to VI. Are there any relevant journals…
sopht9292
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