Mathematics Educators Stack Exchange
Mathematics Educators Stack Exchange

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1500 questions
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How strict are you with prerequisites?

I've been thinking a bit of this comment and the following one: "(Look at all the complaints we get about kids who can't combine fractions!)" "Because it is not about you. Not about Robbie. But about the student. (This is a classic confusion I see…
user13544
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College undergraduate geometry courses

I am interested in learning how a course in geometry is employed today at undergraduate colleges/universities in the U.S. On the one hand, such a course seems to serve as an optional (rarely required) upper-level course of variable content for…
Joseph O'Rourke
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Is there research to back up the claim that math classes help develop analytical skills?

When I teach math classes, one goal I have in mind is to help students develop the cluster of thinking skills usually called analytical skills or critical thinking skills. And I think that math classes can help develop analytical and critical…
David Elm
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Open Source High School Textbooks

Where can I go to find open source high school level textbooks? I'm especially interested in geometry and algebra, though probability and trig are also useful. I'm interested in rearranging and adapting these to my school's integrated math…
David Ebert
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Math circles while under quarantine

I suspect I'm not the only one here who finds himself with a dormant math circle due to quarantine. I'm interested in two kinds of suggestions regarding this situation: suggestions for running a math circle remotely, to the extent that the best…
LSpice
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A fun, one-day topic for a vector analysis course

I am currently teaching a course in "vector analysis", following Colley's book. So far we have reviewed multivariable calculus (a prereq for the course), and discussed: the derivative in general; the gradient, vector fields, divergence and curl;…
academic
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Adult Learners Returning to College Level Math

I am currently reflecting two educational experiences that have made me question if there's research around this particular topic. 1) A few years ago, I was an adjunct instructor for a Trigonometry class and a Calculus 1 class. I taught those…
ruferd
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Is this primarily a "rote computational trick" for multiplication by 9?

I tried uploading a gif, but was unable to do so. What I can do, is share a link to the gif here. (SE software seems to have allowed me to share the link, but not upload it.) What it shows, initially, is the times table for 9, without…
amWhy
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3D vectors with 3D glasses?

I am going to teach 3D vectors soon to my A-level students. Last time I taught it a lot of them struggled to visualise the angle between two vectors in 3D space. I had an idea that I could get them all 3D glasses and find some sort of immersive 3D…
harpomiel
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toys/manipulatives for exploring graph theory

I was talking recently with my daughters about non-planar graphs, like $K_{3,3}$, $K_5$, and the 7 bridges of Königsberg. They got pretty interested in it, and seemed to catch on to the core ideas. Then we tried to dive into the Petersen graph and…
LarsH
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Co-curricular lessons between geometry and chemistry?

My school is hyped about the promise of co-curricular education and they are giving the math and science teachers paid days off to develop lesson plans that synergize our learning goals. I'm on board with this. The problem is that I'm teaching…
Matthew Daly
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Can anyone recommend good software for verifying row reduction steps?

I work as a tutor for linear algebra. Students will often have a problem that requires them to row reduce, and they'll make an arithmetic mistake somewhere. Often they'll ask for my help finding their mistake. I often will go through the…
user12682
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A PEMDAS issue request for explanation

This question made the rounds recently - $8÷2(2+2)=?$ Now, I glanced at this, answered "1" and then saw the full article printed in the New York Times, The Math Equation That Tried to Stump the Internet. The article concludes that 16 is the correct…
JTP - Apologise to Monica
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Motivation vs. Rigor

This is such a vague topic that I hesitate to post. I constantly struggle between the time-tradeoff between motivating a topic, and delving into the rigorous details necessary to fully "grok" the topic. For example: The details of polynomial…
Joseph O'Rourke
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Delivering mathematics lectures via tablet and projector

Owing to an injury, I need an alternative solution for delivering a semester-long mathematics course that I was originally going to teach using chalk and blackboard. It seems that a good option might be to use a tablet and stylus to simulate this…
karooby
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