Monthly Archives: November 2009

Have a Heart!

It is always interesting when a probability question produces a counter-intuitive result, and the following “glimpse a heart” question is a wonderful example of that:-

Posted in mathematics | Leave a comment

Hard Problems

hardproblemsmovie.com is the website of a documentary made about the US team in the 2006 International Math Olympiad. << Although American students on the whole rank well behind many countries in mathematics, American math Olympiad teams regularly finish among the … Continue reading

Posted in education, mathematics | Leave a comment

Mathematical Paintings

From the MathForum newsletter: << David Crockett Johnson was perhaps most famous for his children’s book Harold and the Purple Crayon. From 1965 until his death in 1975, Crockett Johnson painted over 100 works relating to mathematics and mathematical physics. … Continue reading

Posted in uncategorized | 1 Comment

Interesting Poll Results

BBC NEWS | Special Reports | Free market flawed, says survey.

Posted in politics, social issues, world | Tagged | Leave a comment

Why Math?

A couple of recent additions to the arsenal of reasons for promoting mathematics education are this recent article by Ian Stewart in the UK Telegraph and the collection of ‘Math Matters – Apply It’ posters developed by SIAM (the Society … Continue reading

Posted in education, mathematics | Leave a comment

Stanford Study of Writing

The Stanford Study of Writing provides a welcome counterpoint to some of the nonsense that has been put about regarding impact of the internet on literacy.

Posted in education, technology | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Crossing the Finish Line: SATs and GradRates

Stephen Downes points to Chad Adelman posting on Crossing the Finish Line – a recent book about university graduation rates by William G. Bowen, Matthew M. Chingos & Michael S. McPherson. I haven’t read the book but am suspicious of … Continue reading

Posted in education, social issues | Leave a comment

Media Democracy Day Vancouver – November 7, 2009 | Media Democracy Day

Media Democracy Day Vancouver – November 7, 2009 | Media Democracy Day.

Posted in uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Widening Gap

The Back Page article by Joseph Ganem in this month’s APS News suggests that nominal content and student capability outcomes in US high school mathematics are moving in opposite directions – and attributes this largely to attempts to introduce abstract … Continue reading

Posted in education, mathematics | Leave a comment