Get more out of research

Teaching

Today one of my students told me that he thought I was the best math teacher he's ever had. I did a mid-semester survey and the other students seem to share the sentiment.

Do I agree that I'm pretty good? I have no freaking clue.

Do I think his opinion of me will translate into him passing? I can only hope so.

Apparently there is a study showing that the way a student rates his math teacher is inversely correlated to the amount they measurably learn.

Food for thought. But in the meanwhile... I'm on a campaign for a teaching award.


Edit: On Teaching

The internets

Found out from the INTERNETS that my advisor applied to a job at another school. I'm not even sure if I have the right to be angry - maybe this is how it works in academia... advisor does whatever the hell he wants and the students find out when he needs them to. But I absolutely do have the right to freak the hell out. I may be moving to Utah next year.

On education 2

- feedback

The point is not to fire ineffective teachers. Teaching is hard... you'd fire everyone. The point is to set up systems which reliably make teachers good. (reflecting on...)

-data driven

Those systems can be discovered, monitored and maintained by honest thorough comprehensive data mining. Where we analyze data without unshakable hypotheses

- grit

But we do have one working hypothesis: that successful teaching is the successful teaching of perseverance.

On Education

"A Student should emerge from from such a general education with a knowledge of how problems, whether of life or science or art, have been treated, and with some insight therefore into how problems may be treated; and joined to that knowledge, he should possess and ability to understand positions other than his own, to present his own convictions relevantly, lucidly, and cogently, and finally to apply informed critical standards to his own arguments and those advances by others." 

-Richard McKeon, "Education and the Disciples," Ethics 47 (1937):377


I just started a Math Ed Course. I think this is gonna be fun.

Teaching and Persuasion

I am back at school this week. I should be thinking about research. But due to circumstances beyond my control - emails from dept-chairs, favours being called in, people getting sick - I found myself subbing for two friends and spending all week thinking about naught but teaching.

How do I get the most bang for my buck? As in, how do I get the most from my students with the minimum amount of effort?

Here's some food for thought - basic behavioural psychology!

"Personalized text messages were found to be six times more effective in getting people to pay fines than warning letters."

"...if you want people to vote, tell them everybody else is already voting and they should join the club."

Maybe I should start sending my kids personal emails and letting them know that everyone else was studying really hard. It's time to learn the art of manipulation. 

Ode to a Flower

A friend once asked me if, because I'm doing a math PhD, I walk around seeing more of the world than a regular person. I thought he was silly. But maybe, on some level I do. Yay Math! Yay Science!