All Questions
Tagged with soft-question teaching
62 questions
42
votes
13
answers
20k
views
How to draw knots with LaTeX?
I am writing an exam for my students, and the topic is intro knots theory. I have no idea how to put knots into the file, but I know many MO users who can draw amazing diagrams in their papers.
Can ...
- 12.9k
20
votes
4
answers
2k
views
PDF readers for presenting Math online
In the current situation it seems especially important to be able to present your mathematical results online in a way that your audience does not fall asleep in front of their screens. But I am ...
- 1
109
votes
28
answers
41k
views
Why should one still teach Riemann integration?
In the introduction to chapter VIII of Dieudonné's Foundations of Modern Analysis (Volume 1 of his 13-volume Treatise on Analysis), he makes the following argument:
Finally, the reader will ...
- 12.9k
3
votes
2
answers
141
views
Accessible literature on fractional dimensions of subsets of $\mathbb R^n$
I am currently wondering whether it is realistically possible to choose the topic "Fractals and fractal dimensions" for a seminar aimed at undergraduate students in the 2nd semester, with ...
- 81
86
votes
44
answers
21k
views
Demystifying complex numbers
At the end of this month I start teaching complex analysis to
2nd year undergraduates, mostly from engineering but some from
science and maths. The main applications for them in future
studies are ...
- 12.9k
158
votes
8
answers
7k
views
Resources for mathematics advising.
This question is possibly ill-advised. (If it is not right for this site I will delete it.)
I, suddenly, have students.
It is very clear to me that there is nothing in my education that has ...
- 30.3k
58
votes
4
answers
5k
views
Advice for PhD Supervisors
My first PhD student is having his viva tomorrow. Hence, I began contemplating a bit about the whole process of supervising. One thing I realized is that while there seems to be plenty of advice for ...
- 30.3k
74
votes
51
answers
28k
views
An example of a beautiful proof that would be accessible at the high school level?
The background of my question comes from an observation that what we teach in schools does not always reflect what we practice. Beauty is part of what drives mathematicians, but we rarely talk about ...
- 5,429
42
votes
16
answers
5k
views
Justifying/Explaining math research in a public address
I have been chosen by my university to give a 1 hour public research lecture. Every year a researcher is chosen for this honour. Traditionally people explain their own research about designing ...
- 4,713
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Mathematics of sustainable development and energy sobriety in the classroom
Faculty members are encouraged to highlight the connection between the courses we teach and climate change, and raise awareness of the issue in our lectures, across subjects in my university. I am ...
- 2,494
25
votes
19
answers
20k
views
Math books for advanced high school students
I'm working in a program for teaching a group of students selected in a Olympiad competition. The program is aimed to acquaint the students with the diverse aspects of higher mathematics in a way ...
- 1,181
48
votes
8
answers
5k
views
Ideas for introducing Galois theory to advanced high school students
Briefly, I was wondering if someone can suggest an angle for introducing the gist of Galois groups of polynomials to (advanced) high school students who are already familiar with polynomials (...
22
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What is so special about Chern's way of teaching?
First of all sorry for this non-research post.
I was watching Jeffrey Blitz Lucky documentary movie and it was interesting to me that a winner of Lottery was a math Ph.D. from Berkeley.
In the movie ...
- 188k
59
votes
5
answers
25k
views
Are there any "related rates" calculus problems that don't feel contrived?
I just finished teaching a freshman calculus course (at an American state university), and one standard topic in the curriculum is related rates. I taught my students to answer questions such as the ...
- 50.6k
44
votes
10
answers
11k
views
What kid-friendly math riddles are too often spoiled for mathematicians?
Some math riddles tend to be spoiled for mathematicians before they get a chance to solve them. Three examples:
What is $1+2+\cdots+100$?
Is it possible to tile a mutilated chess board with dominoes?...
- 1,887
150
votes
31
answers
70k
views
What are the most misleading alternate definitions in taught mathematics?
I suppose this question can be interpreted in two ways. It is often the case that two or more equivalent (but not necessarily semantically equivalent) definitions of the same idea/object are used in ...
- 12.9k
34
votes
6
answers
3k
views
Does seeing beyond the course you teach matter? The case of linear algebra and matrices
This question is indeed very important for me. Thus I hope you bear with my subjective explanations for a few minutes. I am an "excellent" lecturer, at least according to course evaluation forms ...
- 4,195
34
votes
23
answers
29k
views
Textbook recommendations for undergraduate proof-writing class
I am teaching the proof-writing class (for the 3rd time) in the Fall and plan to buck the party line and use a different text than the default Bond and Keane. My parameters are as follows:
Logic, ...
- 33.8k
1
vote
0
answers
134
views
What benefits of math can be conveyed to mid/high schoolers? [closed]
I'm teaching mathematical proof writing to a few of math teachers (in the US) this summer. In the beginning of class, I send a survey asking them why they are here. Most of them are here for getting ...
- 5,230
6
votes
0
answers
283
views
Interesting things you learned while grading/marking? [closed]
What are some interesting mathematical things you have learned while grading (or marking, if you prefer) student work? For example, clever proofs that students came up with; nice counterexamples or ...
- 6,237
19
votes
14
answers
4k
views
Excellent uses of induction and recursion
Can you make an example of a great proof by induction or construction by recursion?
Given that you already have your own idea of what "great" means, here it can also be taken to mean that the chosen ...
- 1
7
votes
2
answers
767
views
Where can I find resources for creating a mathematics "bridge course"?
My department is in the very early stages of developing a "bridge course" or "introduction to proofs" course, motivated by our lower-level courses not currently doing a good job of preparing our ...
- 6,237
8
votes
4
answers
788
views
Different derivations of the value of $\prod_{0\leq j<k<n}(\eta^k-\eta^j)$
Let $\eta=e^{\frac{2\pi i}n}$, an $n$-th root of unity. For pedagogical reasons and inspiration, I ask to see different proofs (be it elementary, sophisticated, theoretical, etc) for the following ...
- 4,991
69
votes
20
answers
19k
views
Fun applications of representations of finite groups
Are there some fun applications of the theory of representations of finite groups? I would like to have some examples that could be explained to a student who knows what is a finite group but does not ...
- 13.6k
263
votes
29
answers
89k
views
Mathematical games interesting to both you and a 5+-year-old child
Background: My daughter is 6 years old now, once I wanted to think on some math (about some Young diagrams), but she wanted to play with me...
How to make both of us to do what they want ? I guess ...
CommunityBot
- 1
33
votes
11
answers
13k
views
Lecture notes on representations of finite groups
Next term I am supposed to teach a course on representation of finite groups. This is a third year course for undegrads. I was thinking to use the book of Grodon James and Martin Liebeck "...
- 111
9
votes
5
answers
3k
views
Assessing effectiveness of (epsilon, delta) definitions [closed]
There is much discussion both in the education community and the mathematics community concerning the challenge of (epsilon, delta) type definitions in calculus and the student reception of them. The ...
- 16.6k
7
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Problems reducing to a graph-theory algorithm
This is essentially a question in pedagogy -- the answers could be useful to teach (or rather, motivate) graph theory, and especially the algorithmic side of it.
I have been very impressed with this ...
CommunityBot
- 1
13
votes
17
answers
3k
views
Short Course Suggestions For High School Students
I am planning to teach a course for talented high school students at a summer camp and I need suggestions for possible topics. The students usually have different backgrounds but most of them are ...
CommunityBot
- 1
49
votes
14
answers
21k
views
Applications of the Cayley-Hamilton theorem
The Cayley-Hamilton theorem is usually presented in standard undergraduate courses in linear algebra as an important result. Recall that it says that any square matrix is a "root" of its own ...
CommunityBot
- 1
13
votes
7
answers
35k
views
Real analysis has no applications?
I'm teaching an undergrad course in real analysis this Fall and we are using the text "Real Mathematical Analysis" by Charles Pugh. On the back it states that real analysis involves no "applications ...
6
votes
0
answers
622
views
How necessary is the knowledge of Lebesgue integral for non-analysts? [closed]
Recently I have learned that at some math department the introductory course to Lebesgue integration not obligatory. Thus in another course on introduction to Hilbert spaces the $L^2(0,1)$ space is ...
- 21.8k
55
votes
16
answers
16k
views
Why do we need random variables?
In this MathStackExchange post the question in the title was asked without much outcome, I feel.
Edit: As Douglas Zare kindly observes, there is one more answer in MathStackExchange now.
I am not ...
CommunityBot
- 1
33
votes
20
answers
5k
views
Do names given to math concepts have a role in common mistakes by students?
Perhaps this question overlaps with similar ones, ... but I want to focus on a particular possible cause of confusion. I notice that students are often confused by the concepts of "infinite" and "...
- 6,541
49
votes
5
answers
4k
views
How do you mentor undergraduate research?
Lets say you had an undergraduate who wanted to do some advanced work and some research, possibly for a thesis, or things like that.
There are two slightly more specific groups of questions I have ...
CommunityBot
- 1
52
votes
9
answers
26k
views
Is Galois theory necessary (in a basic graduate algebra course)?
By definition, a basic graduate algebra course in a U.S. (or similar) university with
a Ph.D. program in mathematics lasts part or all of an academic year and is taken
by first (sometimes second) ...
8
votes
0
answers
416
views
Pedagogical question on Lie groups vs. matrix Lie groups
There are two common approaches taken in introductory texts on Lie groups: studying all Lie groups, or focusing only on matrix Lie groups. The main advantage of the latter approach is that one can ...
- 28.1k
52
votes
22
answers
19k
views
Interesting Calculus Questions/Exercises
I am in the process of redesigning the calculus course that I have taught five or six times. What I would like to know is if anyone has some really good examples or exercises that I could either do ...
- 39.9k
9
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Math History Question about the exponential function
While tutoring a student recently, I have come across the situation of explain logarithms by first introducing functions of the form $$f(x)= a^x$$ where $a \ge 0,x\in \mathbb{R}$. My student then ...
- 1,481
16
votes
12
answers
10k
views
How seriously should a graduate student take teaching evaluations? [closed]
Pretty much the question in the title. If a grad student gets bad reviews as a TA, how much does that hurt them later? How much do good reviews help? What if the situation is more complex? (For ...
- 50.6k
51
votes
6
answers
5k
views
What does it take to run a good learning seminar?
I'm thinking about running a graduate student seminar in the summer. Having both organized and participated in such seminars in the past, I have witnessed first-hand that, contrary to what one might ...
CommunityBot
- 1
4
votes
4
answers
971
views
Understanding reasons for best constants in inequalities
Why, in functional analysis, is so important to calculate best constant in an embedding inequality?
Cross-posted from "https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/727690/understanding-reasons-for-best-...
CommunityBot
- 1
8
votes
3
answers
2k
views
The harmonic (series) beetle: live illustrations of mathematical theorems
In my analysis class I use the following problem to illustrate the divergence
of the harmonic series (consider this as a hint for solving it).
Exercise.
A beetle creeps along a 1-meter infinitely ...
- 129
11
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Good chalk in the UK
Sometime ago it was asked in Mathoverflow about good chalk in the US Where to buy premium white chalk in the U.S., like they have at RIMS?. I will be grateful for any recommendations on good chalk in ...
CommunityBot
- 1
2
votes
4
answers
4k
views
Best way to introduce the Chinese Remainder Theorem (to a high school student)
What do you think to be the most effective way to teach the Chinese remainder theorem to a smart high school student, which is supposed to only have a soft idea about how modular arithmetic works, and ...
CommunityBot
- 1
18
votes
14
answers
3k
views
Teaching a pedagogy course
At my institution incoming graduate students must take a semester long course on pedagogy taught by current grad students. I may soon be in the position of having to teach this course and I'm looking ...
CommunityBot
- 1
17
votes
10
answers
109k
views
What are the qualities of a good (math) teacher? [closed]
In forming your answer you may treat the qualifier math or maths as optional, since part of the question is whether there is anything peculiar to the subject of mathematics that demands anything ...
CommunityBot
- 1
21
votes
7
answers
2k
views
Pros and cons of math teaching using smartboards
Currently, there is some talk in my university concerning a change in our lecture rooms from blackboards to smartboards (or other alternatives, such as a smart podium). For that reason, I'm interested ...
- 345
7
votes
8
answers
4k
views
Mathematical Advice for Interested Highschool Students
This may not be a research level math question, but I believe it is still relevant to Math Overflow.
What general resources exist for students in highschool who are very interested in Mathematics?...
9
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Where can I find questions motivating important ideas in math?
I would like questions that demonstrate why a mathematical tool or technique is useful, and which can be used to introduce that idea. Ideally, this would be a compilation of problems organized by the ...
CommunityBot
- 1