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Category Archives: Education
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
Posted in Education
Tagged education, games, problem solving
Comments Off on Struggling with Hard Problems
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
Ghosts
For whatever reason, I have been unable to get into the student database on campus. What this means is that I have no access to up-to-date rosters for my algebra classes. Because I do not know who is still taking … Continue reading
A Quiz Question
I am always fascinated to see how students manage to incorrectly answer exam and quiz questions. Not only does this provide a great insight into my own deficiencies as an instructor, but it also gives me some idea about how … Continue reading
Trigonometric Identities
I have a much younger sister who is currently in high school. In her mathematics classes, she has started to get into trigonometry and trigonometric identities. A few nights ago, she had some questions, which got me thinking once again … Continue reading
The Great Gatsby
This morning, a comic by Zach Weiner: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal is a great comic, even if it does veer off into not-safe-for-work territory from time to time. You should all be reading it. Of course, today’s is of special … Continue reading
What Math?
As should be clear by now, I love mathematics. I like working through problems, and I enjoy the insights that can come from a good understanding of mathematical logic. Moreover, I strongly believe that mathematics is essential to a strong … Continue reading
What’s Wrong with Teacher Education?
I am of the opinion that most teacher education programs in the United States (and probably elsewhere, as well) do a fairly poor job of actually preparing teachers to teach. My main complaint is that the transition from student to … Continue reading