Halfway There

When thinking is too much trouble My exams seldom contain surprises, but my students' answers do. Since I'm a firm believer in k...

Happily ignorant I'm sure we all remember in Season 17 when Marge Simpson expressed to Lisa her regrets about blowing off the calcul...

Rote versus reason Most math teachers would agree that we want two things from our students: (1) correct solutions to math problems and (2...

Lucky Larry asks for full credit My introductory calculus class had arrived at the section on finding critical numbers for given function...

Do as I say ... Mike O'Doul was my college roommate back in the seventies. He was working toward a master's degree in teaching. I wa...

They pop in your face My student was frantic. She was hyperventilating. It was the evening before our calculus exam and she had called me at...

Cris de coeur I think I gave my students too much time on last session's calculus final. Some of them lingered over their exams and wrot...

A spiral approach to math The quiz topic was Maclaurin polynomials and the reaction of one of my students was utter blankness. He had no ide...

Applied math Even the smartest students occasionally get stumped during an exam. A physics problem concerning the trajectory of a proton cau...

The only one? Growing up in the rustic isolation of California's great Central Valley, I knew I was the only one. Perhaps in the big cit...

A hands-on math problem Everyone who's taken elementary calculus has met the box problem : Suppose you have a rectangular piece of mater...

Build your own fort I'm grateful to PZ Myers for tipping me off to the efforts of Bill Crozier , the Republican nominee for state supe...

We got your Christian calculus right here! The indefatigable D. James Kennedy never ceases to provide a platform at this annual Reclaiming A...

Attack of the coneheads My multivariate calculus students are not entirely happy with me. I am not entirely happy with them. The results of ...

This time Goliath wins Intellectuals don't win too many popularity contests. The “smart kid” in class is often the target of bullies. Sp...