/r/matheducation
Math education! r/matheducation is focused on mathematics pedagogy (the teaching of). Please avoid posts that are related to homework or other "How do I solve this?" type questions. There should be an emphasis on usefulness (such as good internet resources or ideas for how to teach a concept).
r/matheducation is focused on mathematics pedagogy (the teaching of). Please avoid posts that are related to homework or other "How do I solve this?" type questions. There should be an emphasis on usefulness (such as good internet resources or ideas for how to teach a concept).
Note: This is not a subreddit to self-promote your blog, website, or YouTube channel, but rather to point out resources you've found that you could actually see bringing something useful to the art of math teaching.
Just explaining a single math concept isn't a good fit here, but something that explains an innovative way to teach a concept to others is fine.
The guiding principle for content here should be: is this something related to the teaching of mathematical concepts?
Related reddits:
/r/matheducation
Hi everyone!
I am looking for math educators to critique the online resources I am creating. The site is free, has no ads, and has no affiliate links. There are (not monetized in any way) Amazon links, suggesting manipulatives. https://www.stemwikitextbook.com/w/Area_Contained_in_a_Circle is my best work so far. Other lessons can be found at https://www.stemwikitextbook.com/w/Topics_(Alpha_Version) if you are interested. I hope I have not run a foul of rule 2, laid out by the mods.
I would love to hear your opinions and suggestions. If this subreddit is OK with discussion here, I'm happy to respond. Otherwise, please feel free to reach out through the methods indicated here https://www.stemwikitextbook.com/w/STEM_Wiki_Textbook:About#Contact_Us
I know random internet links are scary, so it might be useful if I point out I have been kind of vetted already by Grant Sanderson's (https://www.youtube.com/c/3blue1brown) Summer of Math Exposition contest. You can find me as the 24th "non-video entry" link here https://www.3blue1brown.com/blog/some2
I'm looking forward to your responses!
Jeff
In terms of student performance, what has been your experience? Do student perform better when using one method over the other? Has there been any research on this topic?
I'm currently working on the Addition skill tree (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oN0X7ctvbaFK-y906vtaECwgpr5E1lr90-hoxq2ZF8I/edit?usp=sharing) but I was hoping some professional educators would be able to contribute some feedback.
I currently divide addition skills up into four basic categories: fundamentals, reordering, partitioning, and compensation. Are there any mental math skills I'm missing?
I am an online tutor, looking for a better solution for sharing math work with online students live. I've considered an overhead camera with just paper and pencils, a large chalkboard or whiteboard, and a USB drawing tablet for computers. Well, now I'm considering just drawing live on a tablet- as the price for the cheapest ones is no more expensive than a whiteboard! I ideally don't want to spend a ton of money as it's volunteer tutoring; if anyone has some unique solutions or thoughts I would love to hear them!
Thoughts?
I am looking for general advice on whether I should pursue a MS in Math or Data Science. I have a BA in Math and I work at a cost analyst right now. I feel like I would enjoy more of a Data Science career plus it seems more lucrative than what I am doing now. Besides all that I would love to hear some advice
Hi, I’m a graduate student in my final semester. I have created a survey through Google Forms for my research paper and need teachers as my participants. If you are a middle school/high school teacher and wish to help me gather my data, I would be very appreciative. Thank you in advance!
Note: I’ve posted this before so if you’ve seen it and filled it out already, you may disregard. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1K1hU1k8ikRHkIQIW_RalJqnB--B3Vx0mFaJaoEjgbOM/edit?usp=drivesdk
Good day ladies and gentlemen,
I have been using ALEKS for the past 2 months or so to get a good grasp of algebra and then move to precalculus and eventually do calculus. I have seen many people say that the platform isn't that suitable for teaching mathametics. And i can see why, but since i am using ALEKS through an Algebra course that Arizona state university offers on edx i am able to access extra learning material such as video explanation. Should i continue to use the platform when i am learning precal and calculus or use a different learning platform?
Thank you in advance for your kind responses
Hello,
I have a B.S. in Physics and I graduated in 2019. I decided that I did not want to proceed into a Physics graduate program, but I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do, so I spent 2 years working as a high frequency trader, and 2 more working as a computational biologist. After much personal study and reflection I've decided I really want to go back to school and study Math (particularly discrete mathematics topics, but honestly pretty open to other topics).
Unfortunately I did not get into any PhD programs this year, but I would like to try again next year. I'd like to put some effort into improving my credentials so I have a better shot of getting in somewhere; it may take more than 1 year to do that and I may choose to apply again in 2 years if that is the case. I have a lot of fun learning, and I've made good progress self-studying material but that isn't something that I can show admissions committee. For example, I can imagine a situation where someone is arbitrarily good -- without a way to prove it.
The difficulty for me has been getting more math experience because most research opportunities appears to be geared towards either undergraduates or graduate students (of which I am neither). Has anyone come across an avenue for this?
I appreciate the patience, and I apologize if I posted this in the wrong place.
Thanks
I've noticed that sometimes certain non-mathematical viewpoints are snuck into word problems. Based on what I'm seeing in U.S. education in general lately, here's one that I asked ChatGPT to write for me:
In the year 2023, a group of politicians secretly planned to dismantle the public school system in the small country of Mathlandia. Their goal was to force children out of school and into manual labor jobs. They believed that this would generate more revenue for the country's economy.
Mathlandia has a total of 5,000 schools. Each school has 20 classrooms, and each classroom has 30 students. The politicians' plan was to dismantle 60% of the schools and allocate the students from those schools to manual labor jobs.
If the politicians were successful in their plan, how many students would be forced to leave school and work in manual labor jobs?
Hello this is my first post on this subreddit
I am asking for advice as I am an advanced math student in High School, I am taking AP Calc AB right now and am doing very strong in the class usually setting the curve for the multiple choice practice as well as scoring 9 on most of our practice FRQs. My predicament is that I am a junior (11th Grade) and I have no math class to take next year as I have taken the most advanced math course offered at my High School. So I plan to take Calc II and Calc III at Coastal Carolina University next year as I plan to Major in Mathematics at the University of South Carolina - Columbia. The Advice I need is whether or not to take Math 220, Mathematical Proofs and Prob Sol, which will transfer to USC as Math 300, Transition to Advanced Mathematics as well as CSCI 140, Intro to Algorithmic Design I, which translates to USC as CSCE 145, Algorithmic Design I. If I take all four, I would take Calc II and Intro to Algorithmic Design I first semester, and Calc III and Mathematical Proofs and Prob Sol second semester because one of the Math 300 requirements is that your have completed Calc II. For Context I have been told by my AP Calc Teacher that I should do it and she is a great teacher, 100% passage rate and the majority of students scoring a 5, but I need advice from people that have taken these courses and are more familiar with them. If all classes are taken and passed I would start USC taking my semester 1 junior math class with a 500 rating or 700 with permission, I will most likely ask for permission to take the 700 rating course because I plan to go on to get my masters and then doctorate in Math.
Anyways any and all advice is appreciated
Yours in Math, Liam Perry
I mean, I would define the "d(f)" and "D(f)" operations with formulas like the following:
before even teaching limits or differentials. Will they be confused later on in higher mathematics?
I've been talking to a friend who studies humanities, and in their classes, they often discuss ideas, analyze problems, a lot of students are engaged in solving a problem or something similar to it.
Now, math classes I teach this semester (at an engineering faculty) is just solving a bunch of integrals to teach students on how to solve them. Interest in that is, of course, very low, as it's not the most interesting thing. And I have to admit, I felt a bit jealous while my friend told me what his classes look like.
I'd like to learn how (if possible) to teach my students the things they have to know, for example integration or solving ODEs, but make it engaging and open up a discussion.
The things I try to do is ask questions, after solving a few integrals via substitution, on the third or fourth problem, I'd ask the class are there any ideas, and most of the students would stay silent, waiting for others to respond.
Is an active classroom when teaching math just wishful thinking, or can I learn to make my class more interesting, but without losing the functionality (since I have to teach them how to solve integrals, for example).
Any books or articles related to this question are also welcome, as I'd really like to improve my teaching abilities and make my classes more interesting instead of just walking people through solving dozens of problems with increasing difficulty.
I believe many ppl should get benefit from group theory / category theory. Bottleneck is that they are abstract and hard to learn. GAP and Julia are both hard to use for algebra analytics. Do you know easy one? I feel like we should build one by ourselves
My background is primary teaching, but I have recently moved into an alternative provision working with neurodivergent students, and am now teaching GCSE (I’m in the UK. For those outside of the UK, these are the exams taken at 16 years old)
Generally it’s fine, and my primary training often comes in handy in terms of how I’m approaching things with students.
However, I have this one student who will literally shut down whenever division comes up. We’ve discussed his issues and he’s been really honest about just not getting it. I’ve tried re teaching from the beginning it as I would have in primary, but there’s a block there that he can’t get past. So I tried the opposite tack and said not to worry about understanding it, just use a calculator for those bits, but it turns out he doesn’t like calculators either 🫤
If anyone has any genius word of wisdom or experience of this, I would be incredibly grateful 🙏🏻
Is there an app or program that gives immediate feedback to the student as they work through the steps to complete a given problem? For example: When given a 2-step algebra equation the equation starts in green. If the student writes out the first step correctly, the equation stays green. If a small mistake is made, the student added when they should have subtracted, the equation turns yellow. If a major mistake is made or two mistakes in a row, the equation turns red. It could have hint options built in when mistakes are made.
Does anything like this exist? I am a special education teacher and a lot of my students really benefit from immediate feedback as they work through questions. That can be difficult to do with an entire class all working through problems at the same time.
My son has been in Gifted and Talented pretty much forever, was finally skipped a grade because he was being used as a resource to help other students learn rather than learning himself across all his classes, and has hit the ground running in high school, receiving all As for the third quarter. His NWEA scores have consistently been several grades above level, with the past few years placing him in Spring semester of 12th grade by their metrics. He has not yet hit any real academic challenges as of yet.
He really enjoys mathematics and wants to dual enroll through our state's early college program to be able to take Pre-Calculus (Junior year, possibly Statistics as well), Calculus I and II (Senior year) to get a head start on a STEM career. The problem is that because he skipped a grade, he will be graduating in 3.5 years instead of 4. He is in Algebra I now, never uses a calculator and pretty much gets 100s on all his work (except his notebook (3rd Q grade of 92) which is organization-based and an area we're working on improving). His new high school peers call him "The Calculator"; his teacher has had to restructure in-class competitions while they were actively going on to give the other team a chance to win because he always knows the answers. As it is, he never brings math homework home because he's always completing it while the teacher is explaining the assignments to everyone else.
He would like to take Geometry and Algebra II concurrently during his Sophomore year to help accomplish his goals but we're hitting a roadblock with the school. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions or resources to help support our position? I've found a few schools that offer this as a normal pathway to STEM-oriented/high achieving individuals, but more support is always better.
He understands that the workload will be greater and he is ready for a challenge. From what I hear, it can be tough just because of the amount of math but it isn't impossible. He is not without resources as my brother is currently halfway through his Chemical Engineering degree, a dear friend of mine teaches secondary mathematics and I am more than willing to dust off the old noggin to assist as well. From what I remember, while there may be some overlap between the two courses such as Trigonometry (he is 100% willing to study on his own in advance to minimize the impact) they are fairly independent.
He is generally a gentle and mild-mannered young man, so I'm not sure if his teachers are mistaking this for a lack of ambition on his part, but I see at home how excited he gets when talking about math and wanting to do more. I just hate to see teachers turning away a passionate student because something might be difficult especially when so many people fear and avoid math.
Any suggestions are welcome! (Sorry for the book)
Tl;dr: son isn't being challenged enough in math and wants to take Geometry and Algebra II at the same time to move to advanced mathematics sooner but school doesn't want to accommodate.
Hi everyone,
I hope this is a good place to post this. If not, please redirect me where to post this.
I am a high school math teacher who plans to go back to school to complete a masters degree. I was going to do it right after finishing my undergraduate studies but due to circumstances I chose to get my teaching credential and got lucky I got a job at a good school.
I am not doing this for a salary boost (although I will get that) but purely for fun and to become a better teacher. I will start reviewing sometime during the summer and plan to apply next year.
Anyone here in the same boat as me? If so, maybe we can help each other review. I have a list of books I plan to go through but I'm open to anything.
I’m a graduate student in my final semester. I have created a survey through Google Forms for my research paper and need teachers as my participants. If you are a middle school/high school teacher and wish to help me gather my data, I would be very appreciative. Thank you in advance! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1K1hU1k8ikRHkIQIW_RalJqnB--B3Vx0mFaJaoEjgbOM/edit?usp=drivesdk
I can't afford American universities. I'm an Indian planning to do my masters abroad, my eventual aim is to get a PhD and academia.
So what are the best universities I can try in Europe/Asia?
I'm a math tutor and one of my students is working through Phillips Exeter Mathematics 4-5 (Calculus). I'm looking for answers / answer explanations or any kind of companion resource for the Exeter problems: https://www.exeter.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Math4_2022_Printed.pdf But I can't seem to find anything online. If anyone can point me to resources I would be endlessly grateful!
I am considering applying to teach math for summer school at the middle school where I already work. Administration wants me to focus on number sense and algebra readiness during the 13 day long program (4 hours per day). I am an 8th grade math teacher at this school, but this job posting doesn’t specify which grade level I would be working with. I would only want to apply if I can find some way of making my time with these students meaningful. So I had an idea of somehow turning this summer school program into a “game” where students are motivated to complete their work and be rewarded somehow. I would appreciate ANY suggestions on how I can make this happen. Thanks for sharing.
I can’t remember exactly what they called them, but I think they were basically “essential questions” that were supposed to frame an entire lesson, and this website had entire courses broken down into a list of questions like that. It might have been specifically for regents math classes in NY state. I also think the website name/url was an acronym, but I can’t remember what it was. Does this ring a bell for anyone?
My school is planning to launch IM math curriculum next year. We also require the use of standards referenced grading. We wrote standards before the curriculum was even picked and I struggle to see how it aligns. IM has some good stuff but is all big picture and not broken into clear skills. On top of that, our Algebra 2 is lower level than most (doesn’t feed into precalc) and a large percentage of my students struggle with things like 2 step equations, combing like terms or even which numbers are bigger than others. Curious if any other school has implemented a curriculum like that and been able to clearly break it up into standards and skills