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Re: Review of "Accessible Mathematics"
Posted:
Mar 21, 2012 8:51 AM
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Constructivism (as it is known) is like saying that you read a book and construct the plot. The plot in mathematics (and computer science) is already done. It is up to you to determine what those plots mean to you and if you have any use for them.
Bob Hansen
On Mar 21, 2012, at 2:06 AM, kirby urner wrote:
> On Tue, Mar 20, 2012 at 4:23 PM, Robert Hansen <bob@rsccore.com> wrote:
>> Seem willing? That sounds a little too much like saying I am on the fence. I
>> am absolutely certain. Teaching to me is knowing what a student needs in
>> their head to be successful and knowing how it gets in there. The best way
>> to figure that out is by teaching successful students and keeping track of
>> what went into their head and how it got in there. I know that isn't your
>> job description and I don't mean any disrespect, but teaching hundreds of
>> mostly disinterested students is not my goal. Besides, I already have a job.
>>
>> Bob Hansen
>>
>
> Careful there. That was starting to sound like they might construct
> their own reality (or model of) and I doubt you want to be branded
> Constructivist.
>
> Anyone self-branding as Constructivist in math has gotta be conversant
> with Caleb Gattegno. He and Midhat Gazale are like two of the most
> important math writers of Egyptian heritage but with a primary
> audience among Anglophones.
>
> Caleb founded the equivalent of the NCTM in the UK. The bent those
> Cuisenaire Rods to the teaching of Algebra.
>
> http://youtu.be/ae0McT5WYa8
>
>>
>> On Mar 20, 2012, at 3:57 PM, Louis Talman wrote:
>>
>> In fact, you seem very willing to
>> base what you know about teaching on experience with a very small
>> number of students---most of them hand-picked.
>>
>>
>
> I have likewise specialized.
>
> At the high school level, my first two years were exclusively with
> students of the female persuasion (several genders).
>
> Later, I switched almost exclusively to teaching adults over 55, as
> this was a government-funded Jobs Training Partnership Act type of
> program, such as have all been eliminated last I checked (funny, just
> as I get to the age of my former students, I'm ineligible for the
> benefit I used to deliver -- timely training in useful skills).
>
> I found Python Nation and its ministerial branch in particular (e.g.
> edu-sig) to be a good grooming ground.
>
> I gradually built up to where I could teach a room full of PhDs from a
> broad range of departments and set them all at their ease, as they
> didn't have to worry about my ego falling out on the floor, quivering
> like some game pod in the movie eXistenZ (for you film teachers). An
> apogee would be my presentation, on behalf of Holden Web, to the space
> telescope group at John's Hopkins in Baltimore a year ago.
>
> As I documented here on math-teach, my switch from Pedagogy to
> Andragogy was actually still relevant to the Digital Math / Gnu Math
> revolution I've been promulgating, as the parents are who we want to
> reach, along with young adult role models. Parents naturally take an
> interest in what's being taught in the schools and parental
> involvement is a big part of the Portland / OPDX model.
>
> I think we're pretty much at the finishing touches stage on the PR front.
>
> The LCD reveries are still on the primitive side, but there's enough
> content to create recognizable branding.
>
> http://coffeeshopsnet.blogspot.com/2012/03/more-geometric-reveries.html
> (more experiments, by V. Acevedo)
>
> One doesn't only construct one's own reality (out of necessity) but
> one's own business framework / platform as well. In GST we model the
> gradient and talk about "work wheels" -- your daily pie slice of
> income and outgo. "Work" gets used in the physics sense of spending /
> transforming energy, so in that sense there's never any unemployment
> to worry about, only dead end jobs.
>
> Kirby
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