Hello.....I am currently a pre service teacher working on my masters...I'm working on some lesson plans about exponential growth...I was curious from your experience.....what are some of the common misunderstands and errors you find your student have with learning exponential growth?
I would like to know how other math teachers or those in the process of becoming a math teacher feel about abstract algebra being a required math course for many individuals in the teachers Masters Program?
I have the opportunity to speak with many individuals becoming teachers and they often speak about the course of abstract algebra and how difficult it is. For those who have never taken abstract algebra, it is far different from any regular algebra class you have ever taken.
Abstract algebra deals with topics including homomorphisms, isomorphisms, module theory, ring theory, unique factorization and many other difficult topics.
I look forward to your comments on whether you feel courses such as these which will never be taught by the average teacher should be required.
I just realized in your post, that this (Abs ALg)is required in a M.A. or M.S. program. So much the better. Yes, you may struggle, but I've seen Masters programs for math teachers that required one or two "Math courses" (Eastern Connecticut State University).- No where near as rigorous as your program seems to be.
I still think that your results, even after a struggle , would be more impressive than a program that consists of mainly ed courses.
On 3/31/13, Angie wrote: > Hi Howard, > > This was by far my worst mathematics course - extremely > difficult! I am sure, as a high school teacher, I will NEVER > ever get anywhere near teaching anything that I learned in the > course. A waste of time in my opinion...kills the GPA too. > > My calculus III and IV professor taught the course -- he told > me I took it way too early when I was seeking my degree. Haha > -- that was not enough encouragement for me to muddle through > it a second time! Oh, and it was required for my Bachelor's. > Good luck! > > Angie :) > > > > On 3/31/13, Howard Heller wrote: >> Hi: >> >> I would like to know how other math teachers or those in >> the process of becoming a math teacher feel about abstract >> algebra being a required math course for many individuals >> in the teachers Masters Program? >> >> I have the opportunity to speak with many individuals >> becoming teachers and they often speak about the course of >> abstract algebra and how difficult it is. For those who >> have never taken abstract algebra, it is far different from >> any regular algebra class you have ever taken. >> >> Abstract algebra deals with topics including homomorphisms, >> isomorphisms, module theory, ring theory, unique >> factorization and many other difficult topics. >> >> I look forward to your comments on whether you feel courses >> such as these which will never be taught by the average >> teacher should be required. >>
I have found that my Abstract Algebra sequence has been very helpful in teaching algebra and even pre-algebra. It helps to realize that we are dealing with a field, that there are really only 2 operations (addition and multiplication) and that, e.g., subtraction is not a real operation, it is a "shortcut" way of adding the inverse, that division is also not a real operation but a shortcut way of saying multiply by the (multiplicative) inverse, i.e., the reciprocal. That THIS is why neither is commutative and which all greatly informs the area of order of operations far better and more mathematically soundly than some silly acronym.
I'm guessing that this masters program is not designed for math majors, since I can't imagine someone getting any kind of real math BA or BS degree without abstract algebra ( and real analysis, and complex analysis) as bedrock foundational requirements.
Franky, complaining about how it is too hard sounds a lot like my students complaining that math is too hard.
I think it is very important to have a depth of math knowledge far beyond what you are going to directly teach.
Most of the middle school math "projects" I have found, even at the state website appears to be doable only if the student has prior knowledge of the concept.
Somewhere I must be missing the point which is usual for me because I almost always understand what administrators want whether I agree with it or not. Can anyone help me on this?
KayThis answer is very late in coming, but when I had to do project based learning, I ordered a couple of books with as many math PBL projects as possible. I went to a conference on the basics & that helped, too. Good luck
okMost of the middle school math "projects" I have found, > even at the state website appears to be doable only if the > student has prior knowledge of the concept.
This needs to be emblazoned on some administrators' foreheads, and has always been the problem with constructivist learning
On 4/04/13, Dan Sarkes wrote: > Hi, > I am doing undergraduate research work involving > computational mathematics and helping students understand > L'Hopital's rule more conceptually. I have developed a 2-3 > class session lab exercise and I am looking for students to > give it a try. If you are a teacher with room in your > curriculum or if you head some sort of math club and can > help me out I would really appreciate it. Semester is over > 5/6/2013 so please disregard this post after that date. > thanks for your time, > Dan
We will be teaching Common Core Math next Fall. We are looking at Saxon, enVision and McGraw-Hill My Math. I would love to know if anyone perfers one over the other and why. Thanks
Sue On 4/20/13, Lori wrote: > Our school actually liked Glencoe, but unfortunately, as on > right now, the funding hasn't come through for new textbooks > for us next year.
My school has been advised against Glencoe by our Math consultant. We are going with Math IIn Focus.
I am looking for interesting projects, lesson plans, and/or unit plans for a high school statistics class. Particularly current real world applications that would be of interest to inner-city kids. If you have any thoughts, materials, or resources that you feel comfortable sharing, please send them along!
On 4/21/13, nr wrote: > Hi- > > I am looking for interesting projects, ...See MoreDo inner city teenagers pay more for auto insurance because they are teenagers, or because they are inner city? This could be a chi square test of independence. Either make up some data, or see if there is an insurance company actuary who will share some data.
On 4/21/13, nr wrote: > Hi- > > I am looking for interesting projects, lesson plans, and/or > unit plans for a high school statistics class. Particularly > current real world applications that would be of interest to > inner-city kids. If you have any thoughts, materials, or > resources that you feel comfortable sharing, please send > them along! > > Thank you! > > Nina
This might be a possible sourc...See MoreOn 4/22/13, Jerry wrote: > Do inner city teenagers pay more for auto insurance because > they are teenagers, or because they are inner city? This could > be a chi square test of independence. Either make up some > data, or see if there is an insurance company actuary who will > share some data.
This might be a possible source for data. The Insurance Services Office compiles large amounts of data for the casualty insurance companies.
I interviewed with them about 38 years ago, and a roommate of mine about 35 years ago worked for them for a year or two.
Our elementary is considering Math in Focus (Singapore math) as a new math text. It sounds marvelous, but is also quite new. Has anyone had any experience with it? What are your opinions?
My school just purchased Math In Focus as well however it is not a new program. It's been around awhile. We have also had extensive raining in Singapore Math which is really what Math In Focus is all about. I really like it so far but we had to change our schedule to allow 80 mins of math per day for the program. Hopefully it goes well for next year.
I just realized in your post, that this (Abs ALg)is required in a M.A. or M.S. program. So much the better. Yes, you may struggle, but I've seen Masters programs for math teachers that required one or two "Math courses" (Eastern Connecticut State University).- No where near as rigorous as your program seems to be...See More