Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with pedagogy

Learn Math Via Programming?

fightoplankton — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:59:39 -0800

I have always been horrible at math, but somehow a great programmer. I have found that writing a computer program that demonstrates a certain mathematical concept enables me to better understand the concept. I'm a psych major and I brought this up once in the research lab I've been working in. My prof said he recalls that someone did research and/or created a system in which a student writes a computer program that is pertinent to a certain mathematical concept and upon completion is given the regular math problem (as it would appear in a math class). This enables the student to better understand the math problem, solve, and learn math. Has anyone heard of this or anything similar? A learning system such as this would be a blessing to my education. Thanks.

Teaching students to cite

carter — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 09:20:08 -0800

Desperately seeking effective online learning resources that teach undergrads how to identify academic sources, and how to cite them correctly. These could be Web pages, .docs/.pdfs, tutorials, etc. Anything interactive is a bonus. I've gone through this a number of times with different classes. I've told them, basically, that they need to supply some form of:

Lastname, N., (DATE). Book title, or Title & Journal/Vol/Issue, or Title & Conference/ Name/Place/Location, pagenumbers. Place/Publisher where relevant.

And I keep getting back the most amazing garbage. I'm flummoxed, tired of explaining it, and want to point them to a good online, preferably interactive Web resource. Many thanks!

publishing books on pedagogy

tuliplady — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 18:40:55 -0800

Which university presses publish books on teaching pedagogy?

Looking for Good Writing about Comics

gerryblog — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 05:05:32 -0800

Favorite philosophical, historical, analytic, or lit-critical essays about comic books? I'm putting together a syllabus for an undergraduate "Comics as Literature" course and I'm looking for new pieces to supplement some of the more well-known analytical pieces I'll be using: McCloud's Understanding Comics, one or two of Wolk's essays from Reading Comics, Umberto Eco's Myth of Superman, and so on. Do any suggestions spring to mind? Thanks in advance for the recommendations.

Snap crackle sinus

I_Love_Bananas — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:21:50 -0800

Why do my sinuses crackle when I sing? All my adult life (as a singer of opera & musical theater), I have experienced distinct crackling sensations/sounds (audible to others) that occur when I sing.

I must warm up to the point that I "sing through it" and smooth out the crackling that takes place in my sinus cavities. Certain notes are more likely to result in crackling. Generally, the more thoroughly I warm up and sing, the more the crackling goes away. My mental image of the process is that I must break through some sort of barrier to achieve optimum vocal resonance. Some days it takes me 30-40 minutes to get there.

Has anyone else experienced this? I use saline solution, facial massage and have seen an EENT, none of which have given me any idea why this occurs. I don't think it's a dryness issue. What is happening physiologically when I sing that could make my sinuses crackle?

Beautiful Non-Fiction Books Needed

wackybrit — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 06:17:46 -0800

Can you recommend some beautiful / well designed non-fiction books? Topic is (mostly) irrelevant. I appear to have developed a fondness for books that are extremely well designed, regardless of whether the actual content interests me or not. I'm more interested in the layout, quality of the paper, the "feel" of the book, the pedagogy, the infographics / diagrams, all that sort of thing.

It's rather hard finding books like this as the best books (in a factual sense) in a particular field are not necessarily the best designed. I'm looking for books that may even totally get things wrong, but that still feel nice and present things in a compelling way (even if incorrect). All these books seem to act as a sort of mental compost for me, especially as I am in the field of writing informational and instructional texts / books myself.

Here are a few books I totally dig that would meet these criteria, just for inspiration with the answers:

Steve Krug - Don't Make Me Think
Scott McCloud - Understanding Comics
Edward Tufte - Visual Display of Quantitative Information
Edward Tufte - Envisioning Information
Tres Logos
Most "TASCHEN" books
O'Reilly's "Head First" series (such as Head First Java)
Karen Cheng - Designing Type
Aho, Lam, Sethi & Ullman - Compilers (the "Dragon" book)
Roy H Williams - The Wizard Of Ads

The topic of the books is not important. The books just need to be well designed, feel nice, look good on the bookshelf, and be enjoyable to thumb through.

Dear Introductory Art Teacher, College Level.

unmake — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 18:51:06 -0800

On what basis is it that introductory courses stress avoiding a centered composition? I understand that in some respect, it's done with the assumption that students are presently in the naive habit of always/only centering things, and that being told not to do so may helpfully push them into expanding how they frame their pictures.

But is there any basis in believing that this method is more effective than teaching, from the get-go, that it's often appropriate, the key is to know when (and to have considered a range of alternatives beforehand). ..asked by someone who's already learned from 10+ years of mistakes and observation, just now taking an introductory course. Also, I've probably enrolled in four introductory photo classes over the years (purely for darkroom access) and those instructors also stressed the same principles.

If an immediate example is needed: here.

Tangentially: is this one of those things where other cultures (China) exhibit a completely different norm?

Can't teach an old dog new licks...

phrontist — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 01:03:03 -0800

When I read the biographies of artists I admire, they always seem to start with lines like "began playing the piano at 5", "got first drumkit at 7", and so forth. Every great musician I've known personally got started at a very young age, usually before age 12. Have there been any successful (defined here as having produced music enjoyed by a significant number of people) who came to music relatively late in life? Past 18? 30? 40?

How to teach MLA/Chicago form

Mngo — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 20:50:53 -0800

I teach graduate writing and research. I'm pretty confident with the way I teach the spirit of citation (it's what we have in the humanities instead of the scientific method), but what draconian pedagogy can I use to soul-crushingly impose format dread on my unruly grad students? They all have a copy of the MLA handbook, and most of them have a Chicago Manual of Style near to hand. Most of them use robo-reference managers like Refworks, Endnote or Citation, that can theoretically output in any format But some of my senior colleagues still complain that they receive badly formated bibs and notes. Ideally this would also support the conceptual aims of the course, but what can we do in class, and what resources can I direct them to, to improve their pains-taking in producing formal research papers?

Where should I go to college?

phrontist — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 16:22:41 -0800

Where should I go to college? (Electrical/Computer Engineering and Mathematics) I'm a Virginia resident. It would seem then, the obvious choice would be Virginia Tech, which I'd agree with completely, but I'm fairly certain I can't get in. Why? Well, I'll let the numbers speak for themselves:

GPA: 2.6 (at the end of my junior year)
SAT Verbal ("Critical Reading"): 740
SAT Math: 620
SAT Writing: 650
SAT Total: 2010

Senior year schedule:
BC Calculus
Modern World History
International Baccalaureate Standard Level Math
Journalism
College Preporatory English
Technical Drawing (think... AutoCAD and SolidWorks)

Extra Curriculars:

FIRST Robotics Team - Tenth grade to present. Currently president of team, programmer all three years, driver last year. (Team was founded my Sophomore year: have been extremely active in it each year)

Stage Crew - Eighth grade to present, club has no real organization, but I've been a serious participant all of high school. I have done a great deal of paid and volunteer work through this.

Work Experience:
Stage Crew (see above)

Aurora Flight Sciences - Intern, wrote software for UAV groundstations (on the GoldenEye project). Invited back next summer, boss (MIT alum) has offered to write letters of reccomendation.

I attend the very small and highly regarded (public) George Mason High School which has (we are oft-reminded) "Placed in the top 35 of Newsweek’s National Challenge Index every year since 2000!"

Other (possibly) relevant things:
I have dual American/Belgian citizenship. I speak Flemish (Belgian dutch) more or less fluently, though I have never taken any formal instruction in Dutch.

I have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (Though these days, who hasn't?). I am currently off medication, though I was on and off it throughout highschool.

As far as my preferences in regards to colleges go:
I'd like to be at least a four hour drive from home (NoVa, inside DC beltway). I grew up in a rural area (Kent Island, MD) and have been in the City of Falls Church since seventh grade. In a college I'd like a very urban area if possible, though it's not a deal-breaking requirement. As long as there is something other than the institution in the general area.

Institution's Considered:
West Virginia University
University of New Mexico
Virginia Commonwealth University

Nonfiction books?

etc. — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 20:29:20 -0800

TeacherFilter: I'm looking for a NON-fiction text for my tenth-grade students. I wanna teach a non-fiction text, but I want to avoid teacher-y books like Maya Angelou and Anne Frank. What I really want is a non-fiction text that...let me start over...

I was thinking of teaching Fast Food Nation, but when I was looking at it I realized: There's no narrative. My kids need something that goes somewhere. I was thinking about Blink, but again, no real narrative. The best example I can give of the type I want to teach is Genius by James Gleick, a book that has a narrative, is non-fiction, and that by reading you can learn something more than just literature--like quantum physics. Get me?

I teach urban black kids--high schoolers--who can handle high intellectual stuff, but not overly tough vocabulary. A book like Genius, while interesting to me, is not what they would find interesting.

I'm lucky. My school will probably be willing to buy anything I ask for (I'm that lucky).

To recap: Non-fiction. Interesting to urban teenagers. Must have narrative structure. Kids will learn something beyond the narrative like physics, anthropology, kung fu, gigantism, whateverthefuck.

Help me, smart people of the Filter, you're my only hope.

I thank you all in advance.

Learning Music Theory

phrontist — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 07:40:32 -0800

How should I go about learning music theory? Having read this excellent thread a while back I'd really like to learn more about music theory. My musical experience is highly limited: I do not play a musical instrument, though I learned to read sheet music fairly well whilst playing clarinet in elementary/middle school. In school the theory portion of everything was really downplayed in favor of musicianship, which is, in my humble opionion, really a shame.

This approach certainly seems interesting, is anybody familiar with it? Any reccomendations for solid music theory textbooks? I don't mind it being overly dry or technical, as long as it's comprehensible. A friend of mine is always telling me how mathematically interesting western music can be, and if there is any truth to that I'd certainly be interested in that angle.

I need education tips: If you struggled with math, what helped you get through the abstract and repetitive parts?

glibhamdreck — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 09:01:37 -0800

The math threads got me thinking; maybe someone can help my students? [+] I teach math to violent repeat offenders in juvenile corrections, mostly sixteen- to eighteen-year-olds. I just returned an 8,000 USD Lego-based robotics curriculum because it doesn’t involve enough arithmetic. It needs to be replaced, and I want to have the most exciting math class ever.

I have to consider my students’ various learning difficulties/disabilities (they test as second through ninth graders in one class). On the other hand, I don’t have to deal with standardized testing, No Child Left Behinds, graduation standards, or any other restrictions on the format of the class. Right now, we’re getting by with freeware math games and individual tutoring.

So, if you struggled with math, what helped you get through the abstract and repetitive parts? Textbooks, experiential education, games, science experiments, Donald in Mathemagic Land? What should I buy? What was just a gimmick?

Media Education Advice

calistasm — Thu, 18 Nov 2004 14:25:15 -0800

How do I make media education for high schoolers interesting? [mi] For my senior college project, I have to teach an hour long lesson to some 12th graders. I've decided on media consolidation in news and music, as I think it's important to know about. How the hell do I do it in a manner that won't bore them to death? I can always talk at them, but I'd like them to take something useful away from it, rather than them nodding politely and forgetting everything I've said as soon as I leave. Am I being too ambitious, or is there a way to engage them?

Is there a programmer mentoring community online?

grefo — Thu, 29 Apr 2004 10:38:34 -0800

Is there an online community or web site that mentors new programmers? One in which the student is guided through the different phases of development of a small, but not insignificant program. If one doesn't exist, would it be a worthwhile endeavor to create a mentor community?

TeachingFilter: How do I help a student whose mind wanders?

grumblebee — Fri, 23 Jan 2004 11:36:17 -0800

Teaching question: how do I help a student whose mind wanders? I've been teaching for 10 years, and while my students and evals tell me I do a great job, I think there's always room for improvement.

I've noticed that there's a certain type of student that I have a hard time helping: the type with the wandering mind. Let's say I have a three-step procedure that I'm teaching: (1) press the red button; (2) wait three seconds; (3) press the green button. The problematic student will hear step one, but then his mind will lead him -- generally through a meandering road of word association -- to miss steps two and three. Now this is fairly easy to deal with if he talks about his thoughts:

Me: first, press the red button.
Student: What about the red slider on the other side of the screen. Can you press that instead? Can you press anything that's red?

If there's a short answer, I can say it and then get the student back on track. Otherwise, if answering the question would seriously derail the class, I can say something like, "good question. let me answer it in a few minutes. for the moment, I'd like to continue with step two..."

The problem comes when the student is constantly playing word-association in his head. In this case, I can't tell exactly when he's gone off track.

By the way, I don't think this mental wandering is a sign of low-intelligence. In fact, I do it myself. Which is one of the reasons why I had such a hard time in school. Ironically, I became a teacher partly because I never had a teacher who understood how my mind worked. I thought I could do a better job. But I would have just as hard a time getting through to the younger me than my teachers.

I think the REAL answer to this is self-paced learning. I do fine when a teacher tells me the goal of the lesson and then lets me learn at my one pace, using reference books and such. My mind WILL eventually get back from its travels and focus on the task at hand -- and some of the stuff found on the travels might even be of use.

Unfortunately, there's no time for this in the sort of fast-paced, corporate training I have to do.

Online Portfolios for K12

dhacker — Tue, 09 Dec 2003 23:19:50 -0800

A K-12 school I am involved in wants to be able to publish digital portfolios of student work on the web. As to additional functionality (i.e. Commenting on work, Blogging) I'm open to proposals. Since the budget doesn't allow us to pay someone to hack apache and write code we're looking for an out of the box solution. I believe that Userland's Manila would let me do this at least in part - are there any other solutions I can be looking at?