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Re:A Gentle Introduction To Learning Calculus by michael_dorfman on Saturday May 03, 2008 @08:48AM (#180216)
It's unfortunate that most of the comments so far only engage either with the title of the piece, or with it's (acknowledged) debt to "A Mathematician's Lament".

I think the author's main point-- that most teaching of mathematics tends to undervalue the "aha!" types of insights that connect various pieces-- is a good one, and it looks like he has some concrete ideas about how to go about it.

I, for one, look forward to seeing the author follow through with additional concrete examples.

Re:A Gentle Introduction To Learning Calculus by kalid on Saturday May 03, 2008 @12:41PM (#180303)
Thanks :). I don't know what it is, but for a field concerned with abstraction people miss the forest for the trees.

I try to catalog insights right as they happen, and try to capture the before-and-after: what, exactly, was the turning point that made it click? Unfortunately that makes articles slow coming, but I think they can be more genuine than explaining something after you're already an expert. Most of us can't remember what it was like trying to learn to read, for example -- it's too hard to relate to that problem.