Volume XXXIII, No. 6 | February 25, 2011 Trying Something New: Unlecturing Mathematics At some point during my teaching journey, I boarded the “transmission-by-telling” ship in viewing mathematics as best learned by listening. For years, I delivered polished lectures of codified mathematics and paid excruciatingly close attention to detail. I rarely made mistakes [...]
Volume XXXIII, No. 5 | February 18, 2011 It Is Time To Move It, Move It. . .Engage Your Students with Active Learning With more accountability measures being imposed on college classrooms, what better reinforcement to mastering objectives than student demonstration through engaging activities? Activities help students grasp ideas and concepts, and convert [...]
Volume XXXIII, No. 4 | February 11, 2011 Using Twitter to Stay Connected Never have both worlds and languages been so far apart as between me, a middle-aged college professor of 25 years, and my generation Y students. The world has changed dramatically in the 30 years that separate us. However, with the [...]
Volume XXXIII, No. 3 | February 4, 2011 Preparing Students for a Global Economy According to an ancient Chinese tale, once there was a frog that lived at the bottom of a shallow well. The extent of the frog’s world was defined by what he could see by looking up at the sky. [...]
Volume XXXIII, No. 2 | January 28, 2011 Imagine That! Immanuel Kant proposed that mathematics requires two things: imagination and rigorous logic. Instructors of college numerical math (from here on “numerical math” refers to those college courses traditionally labeled developmental or remedial, including pre-algebra) tend not to get much chance to use imagination [...]
Volume XXXIII, No. 1 | January 21, 2011 WRITING LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION: ABC’s OF STUDENT ATTRIBUTES All of us are asked to write letters of recommendation. Often the request comes at a time when we lack the time to give it the time and attention it requires. Several years ago, I started work [...]
Volume XXXII, No. 29 | December 3, 2010 Building Bonds with Students I begin each new semester by creating a “contract” with students. I ask them to help me generate a list of “what makes an excellent teacher.” My introduction goes like this: “If you’re like me, you’ve had many teachers in your [...]
Volume XXXII, No. 28 | November 19, 2010 Making Connections in Literature What happens when a classroom full of business and math majors, after a lesson on short fiction, still cannot connect the dots? What is the protagonist anyway, and why are both round and flat characters necessary in moving a story forward? [...]
Volume XXXII, No. 27 | November 12, 2010 Speech Critiques: Using Social Media to Encourage Self-Evaluation Activity Background In 1969, Andy Warhol said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Who needs 15 minutes? With social media and wireless digital devices, fame is constant. College students have immediate access to [...]
Volume XXXII, No. 27 | November 12, 2010 Creating Web Pages for Traditional, Seated Courses Students often look to the Internet as a way to supplement the information found in their standard textbooks. The strategy of “just Google it” is typical of today’s Internet-savvy undergraduate. Virtually all students can benefit from using such [...]