Author Archives: msaul

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

Posted in Active Learning in Mathematics Series 2015, Classroom Practices, Communication, Faculty Experiences, Mathematics Education Research, Online Education, Student Experiences | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on The Choice to go Asynchronous: Discussion Board Based IBL

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

Posted in Active Learning in Mathematics Series 2015, Communication, Faculty Experiences, Influence of race and gender, K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research, Prison | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on MATH ON THE BORDER: Working with unaccompanied migrant children in Federal custody

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

Posted in Active Learning in Mathematics Series 2015, Classroom Practices, Communication, Faculty Experiences, K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research, Online Education, Outreach, Student Experiences | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on THE ZOOM ROOM: Vignette and Reflections About Online Teaching

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

Posted in Active Learning in Mathematics Series 2015, Communication, Curriculum, K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research, Online Education | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Active Learning and the Transformation of a Graduate Student Instructor

by Sarah Hagen Recently as a graduate student I taught a week-long boot camp for incoming mathematics graduate students at Oregon State University. It was my first foray into teaching under the active learning model and it was a completely … Continue reading

Posted in testing | Comments Off on Active Learning and the Transformation of a Graduate Student Instructor

Online learning in the time of Coronavirus: Tips for students and the instructors who support them

Abbe Herzig, AMS Director of Education In the midst of the upheaval due to the Coronavirus, students and faculty are transitioning to new virtual classrooms. Many of us haven’t chosen to learn or teach, but here we are, making the … Continue reading

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

The Future of Enrichment: Math Contests or Math Circles?

by Doug O’Roark Executive Director, Math Circles of Chicago The New York Times recently published an article entitled “The Right Answer? 8,186,699,633,530,061 (An Abacus Makes It Look Almost Easy)”. Its lead photograph features over 100 children seated at desks, facing … Continue reading

Posted in K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research, Outreach, Student Experiences | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Dysfunction of Functions in Abstract Algebra

Kathleen Melhuish & Kristen Lew Texas State University “[Functions] are completely different, which is what makes this course so challenging.” – Abstract Algebra Student Functions are hard for students, even students in abstract algebra courses. Even if students have seen … Continue reading

Posted in testing | 2 Comments

Precise Definitions of Mathematical Maturity

[This contribution was originally posted on April 15, 2019.] By Benjamin Braun, University of Kentucky The phrase “mathematically mature” is frequently used by mathematics faculty to describe students who have achieved a certain combination of technical skills, habits of investigation, … Continue reading

Posted in testing | 1 Comment

Everyone Can Learn Mathematics to High Levels: The Evidence from Neuroscience that Should Change our Teaching

By Jo Boaler, Professor of Mathematics Education, Stanford University, and co-founder of youcubed.org (This is the first of two of our most popular Blog posts that we repeat for the month of July. ) 2018 was an important year for … Continue reading

Posted in Active Learning in Mathematics Series 2015, Classroom Practices, Communication, Education Policy, K-12 Education, Mathematics Education Research, News, Research | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments