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Opinions expressed on these pages were the views of the writers and did not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the American Mathematical Society.
Category Archives: Issues in Higher Education
On vision and mathematics
Today, I’m reflecting on vision and mathematics. That’s largely because as I write this, I’m also simultaneously evaluating whether a new computer I received as an early Christmas present is going to be a good fit for me or if … Continue reading
Posted in Issues in Higher Education, K-12 Mathematics, Math Communication, Math Education, Uncategorized
Tagged blind, Braille, Nemeth code, teaching, visual impairment
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Teaching Offline
I’m in Bagamoyo, Tanzania at the moment teaching two summer courses to a group of undergraduate students at Marian University College. This experience is different from my typical teaching experience along several dimensions. I am teaching Complex Analysis to a … Continue reading
Application Advice for Students, Job-Seekers, and Recommendation Letter Writers
I really didn’t know what I was doing when I applied for graduate school, and I am thankful for the assistance of the professors at my undergraduate university who helped me and the luck that got me into a few … Continue reading
Posted in Issues in Higher Education
Tagged finding a math job, how to apply for academic jobs, how to apply to grad school, how to write a recommendation letter, Jobs for Matheamticians
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Some Stories of Journals Behaving Badly
Hoax papers have a long and time-honored history. Ten years ago a group of students from MIT wrote a program that randomly generated totally nonsensical computer science papers. One of their bogus papers was accepted by a conference and it … Continue reading
Back-to-School Blogs, 2017 Edition
Today, I’m taking my chances with traffic and driving up to Idaho to try to get in the path of eclipse totality. (Fun fact: according to my back-of-the-envelope calculations, if everyone in the country went to the path of totality, … Continue reading
Posted in Issues in Higher Education, K-12 Mathematics, Math Education
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Teaching Math to Incarcerated Students
Last month, Beth Malmskog wrote a post for the AMS blog PhD Plus Epsilon about teaching mathematics at a nearby prison. Malmskog is a math professor at Villanova, and in the post she writes about a course she and her … Continue reading
Diversify Your Blogfolio
It’s March. As the sun sets on black history month and rises on women’s history month, I feel inclined, as I do every March, to draw attention to some of the great women who blog about math as well as … Continue reading
Posted in Issues in Higher Education, women in math
Tagged Diversity, Evelyn Lamb, Frances Su, inclusion/exclusion, Piper Harron, Roots of Unity, Women In Math
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As The Dust Settles, Let’s Check The Numbers
I really didn’t want to write about the election. But probably, much like you, it’s all I can think about right now. News media is completely saturated with it and the blogs are churning out a steady stream of predictions … Continue reading
Posted in Data Science, Events, Issues in Higher Education
Tagged Cathy O'Neil, Chronicle of Higher Ed, Election, Polling
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Specifications Grading Redux
Last December, I wrote about specifications grading, an idea I first saw on Robert Talbert’s blog Casting out Nines (Co9s is ending, so you can find new posts at rtalbert.org) and wanted to try out in my class. Talbert has blogged about his … Continue reading
Posted in Issues in Higher Education, Math Education
Tagged grading, Linda Nilson, Robert Talbert, specifications grading
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Can Specifications Grading Cure What Ails My Syllabus?
I love teaching, and I hate grading. I know I’m not the only one. This semester, my math history course posed new grading challenges to me. Grading writing assignments is much more subjective than grading traditional math homework and tests, … Continue reading
Posted in Issues in Higher Education, Math Education
Tagged bret benesh, grading, Linda Nilson, Robert Talbert, specifications grading, specs grading, TJ Hitchman
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