Tag Archives: graded hurdles

Math in the Comics – part 10

Posted on 2009/04/26 by Bert Speelpenning

From last week’s Foxtrot comic, another take at the cultural background conversation of math. Who is bad at math? At one level, a puzzle.  The top part, the part that starts with “16-11-13-5” is not a subtraction problem.  It is … Continue reading →

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Middle School Math – What is Hard?

Posted on 2009/04/15 by Bert Speelpenning

I’ve been wondering for a while what the fundamental difficulties are that kids encounter in mathematics, at the middle school level. I used to think that the fundamental difficulty had to do with the introduction of variables, and with expressions … Continue reading →

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Math in the Comics – part 6

Posted on 2009/02/24 by Bert Speelpenning

Today, there is a follow-up on yesterday’s Non Sequitur comic – in which Danae’s new math system is revealed: henceforth, she will start with the answer and work back to get an equation that fits the problem.  This way, she … Continue reading →

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Math in the Comics – part 5

Posted on 2009/02/23 by Bert Speelpenning

In today’s comics, there is this Non Sequitur one: Comics, to me, are interesting regardless of whether a particular one is funny, since they reveal a lot about the community and the society in which they appear.  Usually, comics make … Continue reading →

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Selection versus Education

Posted on 2009/01/12 by Bert Speelpenning

In many walks of life, we are quite used to systems that select suitable candidates by putting a graded series of hurdles in their path. In the USA we do this with presidential candidates: we make them campaign on the … Continue reading →

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Running the Math Gauntlet

Posted on 2009/01/12 by Bert Speelpenning

The image of someone running the gauntlet has always struck me as appropriate to much of math education. You know the image, two rows of people with sticks, and you’re supposed to walk between them. As they hit you, you … Continue reading →

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