Teaching Definition and 373 Threads

I am working on teaching myself calculus and have a few texts that employ different teaching methods. One covers a short chapter on limits and then goes right into calculating derivatives. Another covers logic, set theory, and rigorous definitions of continuity and limits before introducing...

I've decided to start taking self-study seriously, and stop just skimming books and putting them back. My question is, for those who do work hard at self-study, how many problems in the tet do you do? All of them? Half? None? I'd like to know what a reasonable amount is to set as a self...

Hi, I'm in the complex numbers section of a trig book, and I'm having trouble intuitively understanding how a number like 3+5i can become (3,5) on the Gaussian coordinate plane...the logic behind it doesn't jump out at me... Any help? And is calculus generally a smooth transition after...

Besides the following, what other content needs to be covered in order to teach Zeeman splitting to someone who has only had a basic introductory E&M course (course description below). Energy level transitions Selection rules Orbital magnetic moment Magnetic moments Magnetic dipoles...

Where is mathematics learning going today? There are many books nowadays, that emphasis conciseness and rigour over all else. The Rudin "series" is a perfect example. There is hardly any motivation, and emphasis is put on rigour, rather than intuition. I am sure that this could be argued...

Hi everyone, I have to take a physics class for eigth graders in a couple of days. I have done this a couple of times before but I always find that they hesitate a lot when it comes to answering questions and thinking on their own. Any suggestions from anybody with/without teaching experience...

getting your phd in physics i plan on getting my phd in physics and a degree in math how does the whole phd thing work? and what would i be able to do, research i know and plan on doing, but what other jobs are available besides teaching

Should formal math rather than practical math be taught from an early age to those children intelligent enough to learn? I am just getting started with formal math and logic and I wish I had been learning this stuff since kindergarten. It's all very simple, any bright preschooler could learn...

community college and the lack of teaching proofs I'm in calculus II and to this date i have never had to write one proof! when i look through the forums i commonly come across postings about how to prove things, even from high school kids. why are community colleges less rigorous than 4 year...

hello, i was wanting to teach myself multivariable calculus. i am currently in calculus BC AP. that class isn't challenging enough for me. do any of you out there know any good sites or good books for multivariable calculus. any help would be greatly apprecaited. thanks in advance.

I'm currently taking a first course in differential equations and, just like last semester, finding 75% of the 4 hour lecture to be worthless to me. The professor walks in and asks about homework problems and works through any that people had trouble with. I generally find this useful...

hello! i am a senior in high school getting ready for college. on that note I've already selected what i want to study: computer science and physics. after much thinking and inspiration from my current math/physics teacher i think i want to become a teacher myself. i was wondering how...

In the past we've talked about ideas that people use in relativity. Some hold that in some cases there are some research physicists who have taught something that they use in their own research. Do you find that to have ever been true in any case? Why would they do that , i.e. teach a concept...

I live in the US, but when I graduate I would like to move to the London area for a while, or even permanently. I am majoring in Math Education. What is teaching like in London? Good benefits(health), pay(compared to standard of living), etc? Also, what is general life like in London...

I've meant to start this thread for a while. As I go through yet another year of teaching introductory honors physics to high school students (11th & 12 graders mostly), I often stumble across a topic which makes me ask "why do we bother trying to teach this?" If I can't give myself a good...

The biggest task I have seems to be helping students learn how to learn. Some fail to come to class, others never look at the notes they take, and many seem not to even open the book. Many never ask questions, and those who do, often ask things that could be found immediately by looking them...

Hi There are some physicists who argue that teaching classical physics (particularly classical mechanics) at the pre/undergraduate level (as in schools in some countries) is not favorable because by the time students take up advanced courses on relativity, reimannian geometry, etc. it becomes...

Hi, I am going to be a junior next year and I have been put into Algebra2/Trigonametry. I want to learn Calculus before my senior year and in order to that I have to skip Trig and Pre-calc. Since my consoler said if I want to be in Calculus I can but he said its going to be a huge transition and...

Explain why pressure increaseds beneath a vertical column of water and how to calculate water pressure ate the base of the column. Include the effect of varying heights and column diameters. thanks mike

They've taught apes sign language, I can't imagine how teaching them to at least type would be ridiculously hard. Just imagine having apes on this forum, or anywhere on the internet. So far all the knowledge of apes has been kept to the apes, those who do sign language with them, and what the...

I have been on this post for quit some time. I really do not post all that much, but there are a lot of people that know their stuff. My question, to those willing, are to apply calc. in terms for high schoolers. I am going to start student teaching, and I want to apply math in as many ways as I...

The latest assignment in my high school physics class is to study and teach the class about some part of the electrical distridution system. My part happens to be, How does a generator work and what are the principles behind it? I have sort of a basic lesson plan, but I want to make sure I'm...

im 16, sophomore in high school, in accelerated math (algebra 3 / trigonometry this year, pre-calculus next year, AP calculus senior year I am in Computer Science 2 right now and will be taking AP Computer Science next year (all year) so I excel at programming as well as math) I'm...