dusters
Emperor
Hello.
I want to invite you to ponder and share your experiences about good mathematics education you have received. I'm mostly interested in high school/ university level, because that's where I am at as a teacher, but if some teacher
blew you away in earlier stages, I'm all ears.
Why this is a RD thread? Many people, at least in Latvia, have been expressing concerns that mathematics education has worsened over previous two decades. There is, supposedly, lower standards than at the end of 20th century. There are less and less Math Olympians both on a national and international level. I am not sure if these trends apply to USA, I would like to know.
At least in Latvia less and less teenagers choose pure math as a hobby, even less as a viable career path. I am currently reading a book
www.goodreads.com
about layman preconceptions about math in 1970s and things were different then. But let's focus on Math, not political or economical climate.
In Latvia it is a voluntary choice for high schoolers to choose Advanced math classes at the end of high school. They contain integrals, limits, derivatives, some advanced trigonometry and few other things. You can't pack much
into 9 months after all. My job, starting from next February, might be doing what is possible to keep those brave youngsters interested in math after they finish high school.
As an artist myself, my idea, maybe utopian, is to connect passion with math. I have to respect the syllabus, so I can't speak about history of math much, but I plan to include it more than other teachers. I plan to spice up the lessons with a lot of real world applications. I plan to give word problems, because even 18 year olds nowadays have problems with text and math problem comprehension.
To have hobbies which include counting, mathematical logic, sets, geometry etc. in adult life is what I expect from teenagers who loved math in school. Be it Bridge, poker, coding, chess, architecture, miniatures, Sudoku, anything which relies on algorithmic or geometrical thinking, problem solving skills, etc.
My main question is "What made your professor or teacher of mathematics good in your eyes?" What made him/her charismatic? Did it influence your adult life in any positive way?
I want to invite you to ponder and share your experiences about good mathematics education you have received. I'm mostly interested in high school/ university level, because that's where I am at as a teacher, but if some teacher
blew you away in earlier stages, I'm all ears.
Why this is a RD thread? Many people, at least in Latvia, have been expressing concerns that mathematics education has worsened over previous two decades. There is, supposedly, lower standards than at the end of 20th century. There are less and less Math Olympians both on a national and international level. I am not sure if these trends apply to USA, I would like to know.
At least in Latvia less and less teenagers choose pure math as a hobby, even less as a viable career path. I am currently reading a book
The Mathematical Experience: A National Book Award Winn…
This is the classic introduction for the educated lay r…
In Latvia it is a voluntary choice for high schoolers to choose Advanced math classes at the end of high school. They contain integrals, limits, derivatives, some advanced trigonometry and few other things. You can't pack much
into 9 months after all. My job, starting from next February, might be doing what is possible to keep those brave youngsters interested in math after they finish high school.
As an artist myself, my idea, maybe utopian, is to connect passion with math. I have to respect the syllabus, so I can't speak about history of math much, but I plan to include it more than other teachers. I plan to spice up the lessons with a lot of real world applications. I plan to give word problems, because even 18 year olds nowadays have problems with text and math problem comprehension.
To have hobbies which include counting, mathematical logic, sets, geometry etc. in adult life is what I expect from teenagers who loved math in school. Be it Bridge, poker, coding, chess, architecture, miniatures, Sudoku, anything which relies on algorithmic or geometrical thinking, problem solving skills, etc.
My main question is "What made your professor or teacher of mathematics good in your eyes?" What made him/her charismatic? Did it influence your adult life in any positive way?
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