In the last couple of posts on the inverted transition-to-proofs course, I talked about course design, and in the last post one of the prominent components of the course was an assignment type that I called Guided Practice. In my opinion Guided Practice is the glue that held the course together and the engine that drove it forward, and without it the course would have gone a little like this.
So, what is this Guided Practice of which I speak?
First let’s recall one of the most common questions asked by people learning about the inverted classroom. The inverted classroom places a high priority on students preparing for class through a combination of reading, videos, and other contact with information. The question that gets asked is — How do you make sure your students do the reading? Well, first of all I should say that the answer is that there really is no simple way to  
Tomorrow (11/23) is not only Fibonacci Day, it’s also the release day for the English translation of Math Girls, a mathematics-themed young adult novel (!) by Japanese author Hiroshi Yuki. Math Girls combines “the rigor of a mathematics text with the drama of teenage romance”, according to a press release by Bento Books (the US distributor of the novel).
I’d never heard of Math Girls before I saw that press release, but apparently it’s a cultural phenomenon in Japan, where it’s gone through eighteen printings, three sequels, comic book adaptations, and fan-created music videos. (The music video is here — I couldn’t figure out how to embed it. You should watch it, just because it’s the only Japanese pop video you will ever see that features a generating function.)
Bento Books describes the novel:
Math Girls introduces readers to a wide range of subjects, from the Fibonacci series …
I’ve just finished reading Edmund Morris’ splendid biography The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt. I can’t remember how I got interested in this book, but I came away from it greatly appreciative of Roosevelt not only as a great President but as a man whose capacity for both thinking and doing were almost superhuman. Although some aspects of his life seem questionable to me (there’s a distinct subordination of his family life to his career, for instance), I do admire his voracity of mind, his passion for public service and for doing what’s right, and the sheer force of his personality in getting things done.
Here’s one snippet from the book that really stood out to me. Shortly after Roosevelt was nominated for the Vice-Presidency in 1900 (the previous Vice-President, Garret Hobart, having died suddenly the previous year), he went out on the campaign trail for William McKinley. His schedule…
I am a mathematician and educator with interests in cryptology, computer science, and STEM education. I am affiliated with the Mathematics Department at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. The views here are my own and are not necessarily shared by GVSU.
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