Timeline for Why do we teach calculus students the derivative as a limit?
Current License: CC BY-SA 2.5
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3, 2011 at 19:51 | comment | added | Toby Bartels | But the question is not whether the students refuse to learn but whether the environment that we are providing is good. Explaining an intuitive concept with a complicated definition is not conducive to that good environment. | |
| Oct 19, 2010 at 14:11 | history | made wiki | Post Made Community Wiki by S. Carnahan♦ | ||
| Sep 28, 2010 at 16:07 | comment | added | Andrew Stacey | @JBL: I agree with your underlying point, but disagree with the point you actually made. I think that Mark quoted enough context by quoting the second sentence. I also disagree with your rephrasing because my original statement said, "If the students ..." whereas your rephrasing seems more like "When the students ...". There's loads more to say on this, but MO is (thankfully) a lousy place to say it. So I will content myself with saying that I know Mark and I know that he takes teaching very seriously so I see his "cheerleading" of that sentence coming from the best possible motives. | |
| Sep 28, 2010 at 15:06 | comment | added | JBL | @Mark: Yes, I didn't think that either you or Sean agreed with my rephrasing, just that it seems to me that this statement (in isolation) has a little of that ring to it. Students who behave as you describe are extremely irritating, but I think teachers would do well to avoid sounding like we think this is the norm :) | |
| Sep 28, 2010 at 13:57 | comment | added | Mark Meckes | @JBL: point taken, although I disagree with your restatement. "My job is to provide them with an environment in which they can learn" is the sentiment of someone who takes doing that job well seriously. I really liked the line because of several recent conversations about students who don't take notes, skip class, rush through homework, and don't ask questions. Such students are the exception rather than the rule, but they can get under one's skin. For times like that, I thought Andrew's line would be a good substitute for the glib old saw about a horse and water. | |
| Sep 28, 2010 at 13:12 | comment | added | JBL | @Mark and Sean, I have to admit that I'm a little put off by the cheerleading for this particular phrase -- stripped from the context Andrew provided it, it comes across rather as, "I don't do a bad job of teaching, my students do a bad job of learning." I think this is an attitude those of us who teach should be careful to avoid, in general. (Of course, everyone who has ever taught has come across specific cases where it might be applied.) | |
| Sep 27, 2010 at 14:44 | comment | added | Mark Meckes | +1 for "if the students refuse to learn, that's their problem. My job is to provide them with an environment in which they can learn." | |
| Sep 27, 2010 at 7:42 | history | answered | Andrew Stacey | CC BY-SA 2.5 |