Author Archives: Ben Blum-Smith

A K-pop dance routine and the false dilemma of concept vs. procedure

Posted on August 18, 2020 by Ben Blum-Smith

By Ben Blum-Smith, Contributing Editor For reasons that will not be considered here, I recently learned this dance: Although I have no background in any style of dance, I can now do the whole thing, start to finish. I am … Continue reading →

Posted in Classroom Practices, Student Experiences | 7 Comments

The things in proofs are weird: a thought on student difficulties

Posted on May 20, 2020 by Ben Blum-Smith

By Ben Blum-Smith, Contributing Editor “The difficulty… is to manage to think in a completely astonished and disconcerted way about things you thought you had always understood.” ― Pierre Bourdieu, Language and Symbolic Power, p. 207 Proof is the central … Continue reading →

Posted in Mathematics Education Research, Student Experiences | 4 Comments

What math professors and k-12 teachers think of each other

Posted on November 18, 2019 by Ben Blum-Smith

By Michael Pershan, St. Ann’s School I. What do primary/secondary math educators think of the teaching that happens in colleges? And — the other way around — what do mathematics professors think of primary and secondary math teaching? I’m nearing … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Graduate Education, K-12 Education | 5 Comments

Some thoughts about epsilon and delta

Posted on August 19, 2019 by Ben Blum-Smith

By Ben Blum-Smith, Contributing Editor The calculus has a very special place in the 20th century’s traditional course of mathematical study. It is a sort of fulcrum: both the summit toward which the whole secondary curriculum strives, and the fundamental … Continue reading →

Posted in Faculty Experiences, Mathematics Education Research, Student Experiences | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments