DAoM and ``Faculty Innovations in Teaching’’ at Cornell

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Friday, September 21, 2018 - 6:00pm

Our project Discovering the Art of Mathematics was just featured as part of the Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences "Innovative Approaches to Teaching."

Our project is included under "Faculty Innovations in Teaching":

Math 1300: Math Explorations, taught in alternate years by Steve Strogatz, Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Applied Mathematics, and Tim Riley, associate professor of mathematics, is based on an engaged learning approach called inquiry-based learning, developed at Westfield (Massachusetts) State University. The professors pose questions, problems or scenarios, rather than simply presenting established facts, and encourage students to work things out on their own. Riley notes that although it can be frustrating for students when the professors answer questions with "what do you think?" it spurs deeper learning.

For a taste of such a class, see video from Steve's "Math Explorations" classroom from Jo Boaler's "YouCubed" web site" https://www.youcubed.org/resources/steve-strogatz/. The students are exploring "Pennies and Paperclips."

We are proud that this project continues to have broad impacts almost ten years after its inception.