Comments for Measure Theory Interblog

Comment on Work on your grammar AND your math by robot

robot — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 20:13:28 +0000

is? omg.

Comment on Fig Newton by robot

robot — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 02:50:20 +0000

ahahahaha i get it

Comment on Lesbian notation by Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 07:23:55 +0000

I think that’s possibly the funniest thing I’ve heard all week.

Comment on Lesbian notation by Jonathan

Jonathan — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 03:17:40 +0000

I still remember, spring of senior year of high school, not understanding why everyone was laughing. “You just circumcise the square” I repeated, louder.

Comment on But there are no t’s by Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 06:03:31 +0000

Yeah. She understood the chain rule nearly immediately. I was shocked. Another big problem I have is that after going over the product, quotient and chain rules, the students don’t understand that differentiating a function can involve applying the rules more than just once. They think a question will only use the product rule OR the quotient rule OR the chain rule.

Comment on Does that make sense? by Susan B.

Susan B. — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 05:09:47 +0000

I do the same thing in my calculus tutoring, though I’ve never had someone complain about it before. But I think it’s still an important question to ask! Usually they won’t tell you if they only half get it. Maybe you can think of some way to check for understanding without actually asking the question.

My technique is to ask them some related question about the problem they’ve just solved, and then ask them to explain why the answer is what it is. For instance, if I’m trying to break the student of some bad habit (like saying (x+y)^2=x^2+y^2), rather than asking “does that make sense” right afterward, I’ll throw “check” questions at them the entire rest of the session. (”Yes, the answer is 4a^2+4a+1. How come it’s NOT just 4a^2+1?”)

Comment on But there are no t’s by Susan B.

Susan B. — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 04:57:42 +0000

I tutor calculus as well, and I’ve had this exact same question…

And she got the chain rule immediately? I’ve never had a student get it that fast! Actually, the problem for me is always getting students to remember to use the product, quotient, and chain rules. EVERY SINGLE TIME there is a product, what do they do? Why, take the derivative of each of the factors, of course! (end rant)

Comment on x equals a by Carnival of Mathematics IX « JD2718

Carnival of Mathematics IX « JD2718 — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 14:25:46 +0000

[…] Theory Talks about the Trials and Tribulations of Tutoring Two calculus students. (post secondary mathematics […]

Comment on But there are no t’s by andrea

andrea — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 02:02:15 +0000

Ah, the beloved produce rule:

Mangoes are thirty times better than cantaloupes. People who prefer cantaloupes to mangoes are ignorant sluts.

Comment on A2 by andrea

andrea — Tue, 15 May 2007 01:12:41 +0000

Remember when I poked you today? I was actually poking you for about 15 seconds but you didn’t notice. Or you were ignoring me. Why do you always ignore me? And after I wrote that beautiful po-em for you. For shame.