One of my goals as a teacher is to help students see the connections between issues they care about in the world and the mathematics we study in the course. I provide a variety of opportunities for students to make these connections: take a look at the students’ creative connections.
The human brain has evolved to look for patterns as a way to make sense of the world.
This search for patterns is a fundamental aspect of mathematics. In that sense, all of us are born mathematicians. Sadly some people have bad experiences in math classes as they grow up which diminishes their natural joy for mathematics and interferes with their ability to be successful math learners.
At the start of my multivariable calculus course, I discuss this issue and ask the students to come up with a “good math memory”: an instance where they found joy in some type of early “math” experience. They should interpret “math” in a very general way:
FALL 2023 GOOD MATH MEMORIES
Find an example of a contour map that you find interesting and describe why you chose that map:
FALL 2023 CONTOUR MAPS
Find an example of a vector field that you find interesting and describe why you chose that example:
FALL 2023 VECTOR FIELDS
Find an example of a partial differential equation that you find interesting and describe why you chose that example: