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Re:Teach Like You're the Student by Sukotto on Tuesday August 10, 2010 @12:38PM (#1592097)
You might like the dy/dan blog http://blog.mrmeyer.com His focus is on elementry/high school but I think his approach would also make college-level classes much more interesting.

There's also this delightful post from btilly http://bentilly.blogspot.com/2009/09/teaching-linear-algebra... that I found wonderfully informative. Make sure you read the q/a in the comments.

Re:Teach Like You're the Student by yequalsx on Tuesday August 10, 2010 @12:55PM (#1592169)
I've seen both of those. I have incorporated some of their suggestions into my classes. Some of their techniques don't fit my personality.

The way I learn mathematics is suited only for a small percentage of the population. As an example, I have little use for diagrams. I don't think in terms of geometry but in terms of abstract definitions. I don't need a diagram to conceptualize and understand that pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Even with diagrams most of my students don't understand what this means.

Meyer's enthusiasm is contagious and I appreciate that about him. It's exceptional, in fact. It's also not duplicable by most teachers. He's found a style that works for him. It doesn't work for everyone though.

One of his methods involves watching videos of water pouring out of a container and experimentally verifying whether or not his calculations make sense. For me, this is a great big yawn. I could not bear watching such a thing in a class as a student.

The real problem in education, as I see it, is that schools do a terrible job of matching student personality with teacher personality. I believe that solving this problem would significantly increase retention and learning.

It's hard to fit a teaching method to a personality that isn't predisposed to such a method. It just doesn't work. The human interaction dynamic of such a class is a mess.

Re:Teach Like You're the Student by trafficlight on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @01:40AM (#1593944)
A great teacher is able to vary their methods to reach all of their students.
Re:Teach Like You're the Student by yequalsx on Wednesday August 11, 2010 @01:49AM (#1593961)
All of their students? I'm sure you can think of a scenario where this isn't possible, even for a great teacher.