Category Archives: Communication

In Memoriam N. N. Konstantinov

by Mark Saul This summer marks the thirtieth year since the end of the Soviet Union.  It also marks the passing of one of the great figures of Russian mathematical culture, Nicholas Nikolayevich Konstantinov.  This note concerns both events, but … Continue reading

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Mathematics as Logic

by Mark Saul Maybe it is obvious, but it is something I’ve come to appreciate only after years of experience: mathematics is logic driven, and teaching and learning mathematics is centered on teaching and learning logic.  I find this to … Continue reading

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Building Relationships Before the Semester Begins

By Courtney R. Gibbons (Hamilton College) We often think about our classes starting on the first day of the semester. But some of our students log on to course management systems and look at the course materials before classes start. I contend … Continue reading

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Happy New Year(?)

Mark Saul, Editor Mathematics and mathematicians rarely make press.  So it was a bit sweet, but mostly bitter, to read in the New Yorker of the deaths of John Conway, Ronald Graham, and Freeman Dyson, three great losses to our profession.  … Continue reading

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The Choice to go Asynchronous: Discussion Board Based IBL

by Tien Y. Chih Montana State University, Billings Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit during the Spring of 2020, I’ve been nothing short of impressed and amazed at my colleagues’ resourcefulness and creativity in shifting their courses to an online modality.  … Continue reading

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MATH ON THE BORDER: Working with unaccompanied migrant children in Federal custody

The events recounted here happened in January 2020. The program described has been suspended during the COVID crisis.  Perhaps there will be no need for it when the crisis is over.  Nadia looked at me with big brown eyes and … Continue reading

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Reflecting on mathematics as the art of giving the same name to different things (Part 2): Averages finite and continuous

by Bill Rosenthal, Queens, NY; Whitney Johnson, Morgan State University; Daniel Chazan, University of Maryland The July 15 blog post by Dan Chazan and two colleagues referred to Poincaré’s enigmatic remark: “Mathematics is the art of giving the same name … Continue reading

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THE ZOOM ROOM: Vignette and Reflections About Online Teaching

Mark Saul A child’s insight “I know how to find out how many divisors a number has. You factor it into primes….” Alejandro was with a virtual group of four enthusiastic ten year olds, in the midst of exploring a … Continue reading

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Writing Good Questions for the Internet Era

Jeff Suzuki CUNY Brooklyn The forced conversion to distance learning in Spring 2020 caught most of us off-guard. One of the biggest problems we face is the existence of free or freemium online calculators that show all steps required to … Continue reading

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Surprise! Transitioning to online teaching

 By Abbe Herzig, AMS Director of Education Many of us are experiencing stress as schools, colleges and universities move instruction out of the classroom. Fortunately, even if distance learning is new to you, it isn’t new, and there is a … Continue reading

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