If you missed my AMATYC session on Incorporating Mathematical Mindsets, here is a recording of a Pearson Webinar that I did back in October. Mindsets Webinar (Recorded) I will include the link shortly on my Mindsets web page too (Mindsets Web Page) . You can also find links to relevant books, videos, a mindset assessment, and PowerPoint files there.
My short-term elementary algebra class is drawing to a close. For the midterm I tried a new exam strategy that I really liked. I teach a 2-hour block that meets 4 days a week. On a Tuesday students spent the first hour working on problems from Chapters 1 and 2, and we went over the solutions during the second hour. On the next day we repeated the pattern for Chapters 3 & 4. On the Thursday students were given instant…
With the implementation of AB705 coming in Fall 2019, I am currently teaching elementary algebra for the last time. I am using a flipped classroom approach, and I am really proud of how hard my students are working. (I’ll blog more about that in the near future.) This is a short-term class, and the plan was to teach new material for three weeks, then devote the fourth week to the midterm exam. I was going to review on Tuesday and…
Hi! Remember me??? I traded in some of my overload units to take the spring semester off, and it ended up being a very busy time. I was wrapping up the videos and supplements for my newest textbook (a STEM focused intermediate algebra text) and the second edition of Interactive Statistics (which I work with Michael Sullivan on). Last week I started teaching a summer Intro Stats class, and I have begun to turn my attention to preparing for next…
Had a great time sharing my experiences with helping students to develop a growth mindset today. If you are looking for a quick entry to the subject, check out the following videos. Carol Dweck on Mindsets YouTube video – Dweck Jo Boaler on Math Mindsets YouTube video – Boaler I’ll be sharing more on Mindsets in the upcoming week.
One of the most frequent questions I get about MyLab homework and quizzes is “How many problems do you put in an assignment?” My most frequent answer … It Depends. When I first started my homework assignments had somewhere between 15 and 20 questions. My chapter quizzes, which became semi-chapter quizzes, also had between 15 and 20 questions. As I have aged, I apparently have become a minimalist! I have drastically cut down the length of my assignments, and I…
One of the biggest complaints I hear about MyMathLab homework is that students rely too heavily on the learning aids. (I know the name is now MyLab Math – but it sounds wrong to me!) In particular, many students use the “View An Example” in an attempt to mimic their way to a correct answer by replacing the “5” in the example for a “7” in the problem. I think we can all agree that this is not an effective way to learn,…
In my Intermediate Algebra course, we finished our work with rational equations and their applications this Wednesday. On Monday I plan to get through solving quadratic equations by factoring, by extracting square roots, by completing the square, and by the quadratic formula. I thought I’d walk you through my thoughts for setting up the Flip assignment for that day. Flip Topic 1: Factoring Trinomials and Differences of Squares These are review topics from Elementary Algebra, and students have been factoring…
Today I led a highly structured class that made effective use of technology, and finally got some skeptical students on board. Several students told me when they got to class that they were having a hard time with rationalizing denominators, and fortunately I had my lesson set up to begin there. We started by rationalizing a one-term denominator and then a two-term denominator by hand. I explained how and why we began rationalizing denominators in the first place, and although…
Lately I have been thinking about how great a job we have done in modernizing our intro stats courses, and how we have not done that in our algebra courses. In statistics we have embraced technological changes, such as transitioning from the binomial formula to binomial tables to using technology like StatCrunch/TI to compute probabilities. In algebra, that sort of transition is far from wide spread. When students have more ownership and control, they are more motivated to learn. In…