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A comment on Why are Soviet math textbooks so hardcore in comparison to US textbooks? (2017). Parent comment

Re:Why are Soviet math textbooks so hardcore in comparison t... by lsh123 on Wednesday April 22, 2020 @12:25AM (#22942160)
There are good reasons why formal texts are important but I can’t agree more that this is not a good way to teach math if there is nothing else available. But you also need to learn how to read these texts at the end because this is the way mathematicians communicate to each other ;)

Re 1-1: the biggest advantage is that students can rediscover things. It’s one experience to read or listen to a proof, and it is completely different experience when you discover it yourself with small hints from the teacher.

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Re:Why are Soviet math textbooks so hardcore in comparison t... by novok on Wednesday April 22, 2020 @12:38AM (#22942246)
I don't think formal texts should go away, just things equivalent to those well done, plain spoken, 1-1 explanations need to be right beside them in the textbooks. They often are not.

Also math tends to have a documentation problem that could learn a lot from software engineering. Single letter variables are not acceptable in most coding for a simple example.

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