Category Archives: Classroom Practices

Thick Derivatives

by Tevian Dray, Professor, Department of Mathematics, Oregon State University One of the iconic messages of the calculus reforms that took place in the 1990s is the “Rule of Four,” emphasizing the use of multiple representations: algebraic, geometric, numeric, and verbal. But … Continue reading

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Believing in Mathematics

By Benjamin Braun, Editor-in-Chief, University of Kentucky In my experience, many students in K-12 and post-secondary mathematics courses believe that: all math problems have known answers, failure and misunderstanding are absent from successful mathematics, their instructor can always find answers … Continue reading

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A Framework for Integrating Conceptual and Procedural Understanding in the First Two Years of Undergraduate Mathematics

By Karen Keene and Nicholas Fortune, North Carolina State University One common instructional approach during the first two years of undergraduate mathematics in courses such as calculus or differential equations is to teach primarily analytic techniques (procedures) to solve problems and find … Continue reading

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Creating a Classroom Culture

By Taylor Martin and Ken Smith, Sam Houston State University A good educator must facilitate learning for a classroom full of students with different attitudes, personalities, and backgrounds. But how? This question was the starting point for a new Faculty … Continue reading

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A Skeptic’s Guide to Service Learning in Mathematics

By Priscilla Bremser, Contributing Editor Many college and university students do volunteer work in local communities, and can learn valuable lessons in the process. The term “service learning” refers more specifically to service activities that are integral parts of academic … Continue reading

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Preparing the Next Generation of Students in the Mathematical Sciences to “Think with Data”

By Johanna Hardin, Pomona College, and Nicholas J. Horton, Amherst College As statisticians in mathematics departments, we have both spent many department meetings, departmental reviews, and water-cooler conversations discussing the merits of various different curricular decisions with respect to the … Continue reading

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Learning Mathematics through Embodied Activities

By Hortensia Soto-Johnson, Professor, School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Northern Colorado Those of us who teach mathematics know that students struggle writing the symbolism of mathematics even through they can articulate some of the concepts behind the symbolism. Those … Continue reading

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What’s in Your Syllabus?

by Priscilla Bremser, Contributing Editor I had what seemed the perfect first full-time teaching position, in that much of the planning for Calculus had already been done when I arrived.  The department chair handed me the textbook and the syllabus, … Continue reading

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Social Media as a Teaching Resource

By Drew Lewis, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics, The University of Alabama Like many mathematicians, the only formal training I have received as a teacher was in graduate school.  After a one semester seminar on teaching, I was set loose … Continue reading

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Don’t Count Them Out – Helping Students Successfully Solve Combinatorial Tasks

By Elise Lockwood, Contributing Editor, Oregon State University Introduction Solving counting problems is one of my favorite things to do. I love the challenge of making sense of the problem, the work of correctly modeling what I am trying to … Continue reading

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