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The opinions expressed on this blog are the views of the writer(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the American Mathematical Society.
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Author Archives: Ben Blum-Smith
Remote proctoring: a failed experiment in control
By Ben Blum-Smith, Contributing Editor Due to the global health crisis, a huge amount of instruction that was happening in person a year ago is now happening online. One theme highlighted by this change is the question of control. When … Continue reading
Posted in Education Policy, testing
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A K-pop dance routine and the false dilemma of concept vs. procedure
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
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The things in proofs are weird: a thought on student difficulties
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
What math professors and k-12 teachers think of each other
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
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Some thoughts about epsilon and delta
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 calculus, continuity, definitions, delta, difficulty, epsilon, limit, proof, real analysis
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