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Category Archives: Education
Finding a Limit
This semester, I am assisting my advisor with his honors calculus class. As he is out of town today, I will be giving the lecture. We decided to show off a rather beautiful little bit of mathematics which makes use … Continue reading
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Don’t Get Caught
Sometimes, teaching can be very frustrating. Earlier this semester, I gave an exam. Of the forty or so students who are currently enrolled in the class, barely half managed a passing score (a middling C for those that are interested). … Continue reading
Keep It Simple, Stupid
I have a much younger sister who is currently taking calculus as a high school junior. Given that I have a little more mathematical training than anyone else in my family, she sometimes asks me for help with her homework. … Continue reading
Education is a Ponzi Scheme
Our education system is a massive Ponzi scheme. I may come across as a cynic for making this statement, and I may earn the ire of many, but bear with me for a moment. This is not a bad thing—in … Continue reading
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Scandal in Atlanta!
Early last month, NPR reported that 178 teachers and principals in the Atlanta school system fudged student test results. That is, they cheated. I’ve been meaning to comment on this for a while, but have been busy with classes, and … Continue reading
Division by Zero?
I am currently teaching a summer term algebra class. Over the course of five weeks, we manage to get through an entire semester’s worth of material. The pace is pretty grueling, and I wonder at my students’ capacity to keep … Continue reading
Struggling with Hard Problems
Yesterday, I came across an interesting post by Allison at Infinigons. She reminds us that we must remain fearless in the face of difficult problems, and attempt to do something, rather than give problems a cursory once-over, then run to … Continue reading
The Budget
The state of Nevada is, like most of the nation, currently undergoing a budget crisis. Our newly elected leadership is planning on keeping the state in the black by cutting programs only—the new governor has vowed not to increase revenues … Continue reading
Exponents
In our first encounter with exponents, we are taught that exponentiation is notation that simply means “multiply the number by itself some number of times.” For instance, 35 means the same thing as 3×3×3×3×3. For most people, this is a … Continue reading
Herald’s House of Horrors
We often come up with solutions to problems that lend themselves to various interpretations. Exploring the different interpretations can be useful, as such exploration has the potential to provide deeper insight into the problem at hand, or lead to an … Continue reading