My Classes
I thought you might be curious as to exactly what my classes are about
(since I always just give you a real basic overview on the phone. So
here are a few summaries and examples.
Math 336 - Combinatorics
This class is all about counting. Counting cards, dice rolls, theoretical
elements, and things like that. It teaches you how to handle things like
"How many ways can I get a full house from a deck of cards?" or "How many
ways can I get 21 by rolling 5 8-sided dice numbered only with multiples
of three?" Not complicated ideas, but some cases take a little extra thought.
It also address things like including or excluding the starting and stopping
points of a count, such as in "If today's Tuesday and I want to do something
on the third Monday from yesterday, is that 19, 20, 21, or 22 days?"
Summary: If people ask what math I'm taking, tell them I'm learning
ways to count things up more effectively than wimply writing out all the
possibilities and counting them one by one.
Math 424 - Organizing and Teaching Math
This one is pretty much what it sounds like. It foucses on making us understand
how KIDS view the math they are taught. Not how teachers should teach or the
big points to cover, but actually how it is that students (K - 12, but mostly
6 - 12) think about that level math. How do they understand a circle? Does
teaching it two different ways lead to two different understandings?
One good example of the kinds of stuff we're working on is circles. When kids
are first learning about circles for math reasons (such as computations and such,
not just Kindergarten learning to draw them), those who used cans or bottles
or some similar kinds of tools to TRACE a circle don't think of a circle as
having a center point and a radius from that, but will tend to describe them as
round or neat and even or something like that. But kids who use compasses
(with the pointy end and a pencil on the other end) DO tend to describe and
understand them as being a central point and a set of other points some fixed
distance away. Neither way is wrong, but their views are entirely different
depending on something as seemingly trivial as the way they make them.
This class will have us look at these types of conceptual approaches for
a variety of topics.
Summary: If anyone asks what math I'm taking, tell them I'm learning
how we learn math.
Math 412 - Introduction to Analysis
The undergrad-breaker. This class is the one math majors HATE as a group and dread
from the moment they realize they have to take it (and what it is). It is the
source of horror stories around the math lounge and no math major ever tells
another lesser math major to look forward to it. It is the hardest math class
that's required of all math majors, and no one gets a BS in math without passing it,
making it even less appealing. Faculty actually recommend taking as many other math
classes as possible before hand, even if they are of HIGHER number, which usually
indicates a more difficult class.
But, mythology aside, it's not too different from the Abstract Algebra classes I took.
The content is the same, but the approach and style are virtually identical. It breaks
down all the rules of calculus and some other math fields in pain-staking detail
and we have to prove all sorts of equations and theories true (worthwhile note:
all the things we prove have been proven by someone else at some point. Someone who
was a real mathematician, usually over 200 years ago). It won't be afun class, and the
subject matter is the opposite of my choice - This is applied math, I prefer
theoretical - but I don't see it as being as bad as everyone says (I used "as" three
times in that sentence alternatingly!).
Summary: If anyone asks what that class is about, tell them I'm in the hardest
class math majors take, and that it's just a bunch of nit-picky little rules and
verification of all the things we were told to just accept in lower-level classes.
Math 459 - Senior Seminar
Yay, I'm a senior! This is a research and presentation class. I and a partner
were assigned a topic. We have to research that topic from a few sources and present
that material to the class. Kind of like what I did a while ago for Math History,
but this time we're not just teaching a chapter from a book. We have to take a large
topic, learn all we can about it, pick the relevant things, and do 4 50-minute lectures.
Originally, I thought it was only 2, but with a partner it's 4. So we have to boil a whole
field of study into a week of lecturing. We're graded on what we select from our topic
as well as how we present it and the homework we give. If we don't pick significant enough
topics, or if what we pick is too deep, or if our homework is too easy or too hard, we
get docked. Fine line.
Interesting point: Tiffany and I wanted to go in week 3 or so, to get it done and rest
easy. The sign-up sheet for time slots started on the other side of the room and we got
it last. The result? We have the LAST WEEK. Week 11. That's really far away.
Upside: Lots of time to prepare, including time to slack.
Downside: Everyone else will have gone, so we'll be compared to every group before
us. Basically, we have to be among the best, and we'll be expected to have a great
presentation because we've had so long.
It's not that we aren't up to the challenge, for surely we can surpass these other
people, but we shouldn't HAVE TO just because we got a bad draw. But enough griping.
Summary: If anyone asks what that class is about, tell them I'm teaching some
college students something really complicated that they've never seen, and trying to
make it seem simple enough for the broad backgrounds they have, since not everyone
at this level will have taken the same kids of classes yet.
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