Mathematics Educators Stack Exchange
Mathematics Educators Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
32
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9 answers

Is it harmful to use the word "Cancel"?

Elsewhere, among a group of high school math teachers, I encountered a discussion of the term 'cancel'. Most (>20) people in the discussion had very strong feelings about why the term should be eliminated. I searched among posts on this stack to…
JTP - Apologise to Monica
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Software to create video tutorial of mathematics topics

I came across many video tutorials on youtube regarding mathematics. I found this video amazingly simple to understand for students. I want to know about the tool/software used for it or similar videos. Screenshots: 1) 2) Youtube Video: copy…
user
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Is Euclid dead? or Should Euclidean geometry be taught to high school students?

Apparently Euclid died about 2,300 years ago (actually 2,288 to be more precise), but the title of the question refers to the rallying cry of Dieudonné, "A bas Euclide! Mort aux triangles!" (see King of Infinite Space: Donald Coxeter, the Man Who…
Yiorgos S. Smyrlis
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11 answers

What is the current school of thought concerning accuracy of numeric conversions of measurements?

I posted this question earlier today on the Mathematics site (https://math.stackexchange.com/q/3988907/96384), but was advised it would be better here. I had a heated argument with someone online who claimed to be a school mathematics teacher of…
Prime Mover
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Are the words "easy," "basic," "clearly," "obviously," etc., ever helpful?

This is a very basic fact from... It then clearly follows that... Obviously, we have... The proof is trivial... I could add plenty of other phrases to this list that mathematicians are prone to use when trying to communicate that a particular…
Jared
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4 answers

Books about elementary mathematics written like a good undergraduate textbook

I've never seen any really good expositions of elementary mathematics (middle school or earlier). A good college-level textbook, written for people with an interest in mathematics, reads like a novel or an impassioned essay. The most famous example…
Jack M
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6 answers

Allowing nonstandard mathematical language and/or notation

How important is enforcing standard mathematical language and/or notation? Today, I was questioned by a writing instructor as to how vital it is to correct students when they explain something using nonstandard mathematical language. The example we…
Nick C
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23 answers

Quote to show students don't have to fear making mistakes

I have some high school students which seem to be afraid of making mistakes. They are hesitant to make exercises in class because they want their course notes to be super clean, without any mistakes. The following has often happened in my class. A…
dietervdf
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5 answers

The best way to introduce trigonometric functions in a rigorous analysis course

This is something I have always had issues with. Generally, three approaches are used: The geometric path: this follows the standard way how you would introduce these functions in school. The problem is that it is almost impossible to do this in a…
András Bátkai
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Why should kids learn how to use a compass and straightedge, and not rely on a drawing program?

I am curious why it is necessary for people to learn how to use compasses and straightedges in geometry, and not just rely on a drawing program. I have a couple ideas, but I might be missing something or have a gap, so any opinions supported by…
Sophia
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What is the mathematical value of children learning and being tested on Roman numerals?

My 11 year old child recently took an important numeracy test. One of the questions required her to know that M = 1000 in Roman numerals. This made me very angry: I could not see how this relatively obscure piece of trivia was a useful way of…
Bob Tway
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How to solve the problem of Wolfram Alpha?

I teach to predominantly non-majors in college algebra, precalculus, and calculus. How can one possibly incentivize or rationalize assigning practice problems outside of class when this software is readily available? Math/engineering folk need to…
goruda
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What Math(s) Ed literature is accessible to the working math(s) educator?

This site is - as far as I'm aware - for what I would term working maths educators. That is, on the whole the users of this site are not researchers in mathematics education. Rather, we are the people who get on with the work of providing…
Andrew Stacey
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What are non-math majors supposed to get out of an undergraduate calculus class?

When I teach a course for math majors (an analysis course out of Rudin, say), I have a more or less clear idea of what the students should take away from the course, having been in their shoes some 15 years ago. But when teaching a calculus class…
user5249
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How to tactfully discourage casual, implicit disparagement of mathematics

I volunteer with a group that provides tutoring to kids from grades nine through twelve. The included kids have been determined to be 'at risk of not graduating high school'. Of course, many of the students bring mathematics homework to the group,…
NiloCK
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