OpenLab Assignment #9: Mathematics education in America

If you have reached college-level mathematics, then you have spent a great deal of time in your life immersed in “mathematics education” — that is, you’ve gone to a lot of math classes.  As you may know, there is a great deal of controversy surrounding mathematics education in the United States, and you have all had a front-row seat for twelve or more years of your life.  In this assignment, I will ask you to watch a video that comments on math education, and discuss what you see.

Assignment (Due Tuesday, May 15th).  Choose ONE of the videos below.  View it carefully at least twice, then write a response as follows:

  1. At the top of your response, state your name, section number, and the name of the video you chose.
  2. Write a paragraph in which you complete each of the following sentences, explaining in your own words.
    1. “The main idea is…”
    2. “One thing that I liked is…”
    3. “One thing that I don’t agree with is…” or “One thing that I am skeptical of is…”
  3. Did the video remind you of anything in your own experiences in math education?  Explain.

Videos.  Both of the videos linked below are talks given at the TED conference, an annual conference on Technology, Entertainment and Design.

  1. Dan Meyer, one of the most active voices in the math education blogosphere, talking about “Math class needs a makeover.”
  2. Salman Khan, creator of Khan Academy, speaking on “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”

Extra credit.  Comment on someone else’s post.

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78 Responses to OpenLab Assignment #9: Mathematics education in America

  1. Dennis Trotter Jr. Mat 1575 section: 6638 “Math class needs a makeover”

    The main idea behind the video is that the way math is taught in the class needs to be updated, by enhancing the reasons behind math existence, its purposes and uses in helping mankind, and how making it more practical to learn for students, will increase their interest in the subject while making it more interesting and fun to learn. Let’s face it, the way math is taught is like our government, “old and debunked.” We need to implement change for a new situation. Things have changed; our government hasn’t kept up with its society and our teaching methods for math now and probably never has been as adequate possible. Math scares most students, the mountains between the start of a problem and its solution are massive, and even though the answer is right over the top, we won’t even jump a little to get a peek over the top. Most are just scared off and punk out! “Wait a minute,” let’s suppose we dress up the mountain like a piece of cake (strawberry delight), put a trampoline in front, and tell everybody if they jump high enough they will fall on the other side where the cake mixes with ice cream; they will all jump.
    The question is can all the math wizards, Professors, Teachers, and alike, make others enjoy the same sweet taste they acquire from math? It’s a matter of imagination and brings practicality to reality. So Professor, you should always be care full of what you ask for, for sure an answer shall come. Now it’s up to you and other teachers or math to sweeten up the mathematical horizon.
    One thing I like about the video was his highlighting of the lack of reasoning in math, and his five factors for this. All of these lead back to a lack of knowledge, fear, care and inspiration for math.
    One thing that I am skeptical about is him saying “it’s a good time to be a math teacher,” unless math teachers get together now and plan a new way to make math more vibrant and interesting, the problems are going to persist. So unless you are one of those math teachers who are going to bring all math teachers together to make the subject more interesting, then it may not be a good time for you.
    This video reminds me a lot of my experiences with math. If it was boring, I wouldn’t care. If I was scared, I couldn’t learn. If I was inspired, my grades were higher. I don’t know what else there is to say, except I wish you a good mathematical enhanced and scripted day.

    • avald1046 says:

      You made a good point about when Meyer said “its a good time to be a math teacher”, I don’t think its a good time to be a math teacher if these problem persist.

      • mendozak says:

        I disagree. I think his point is valid. And any contemporary math teacher should be his or her own catalyst of change. He’s made it very simple to understand the error of contemporary teaching methods and has made it even easier to fix.

        Be less helpful.

        But not in the sense that you can’t lend a hand to a student who is struggling- in that one must embrace the struggle and the reckoning with concepts if one is to even develop a clear understanding of them. As opposed to being given a formula, one should derive it- for example.

    • takther2009 says:

      Almost every math class I attended in the U.S.A. was always treated seriously. We were always given a restricted time to finish a topic and moved to another. It was always a pressure. Making the class little more fun will give us less pressure and more comfortable.

  2. koshygkoshy says:

    Bibin Koshy Math 1575: Section 6637 and I chose video number 2 (Salman Khan, creator of Khan Academy, speaking on “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”)

    Well, after seeing the video done by Salman Khan or the creator of Khan Academy, I can honestly say I am quite inspired. If you were to ask why, I would say he is an inspirational speaker who went his way to explain the many situations students are facing throughout their educational life. He not only presented to the audience what these situations are, but showed the different solutions to solving these problems through the process of “dehumanizing classrooms”.
    This is the main key idea of this video. It teaches and convinces people that this person named Salman Khan, through the efforts of his peers, made an interesting organization for the sake of helping students through technology. One thing I liked about what he said is, a student may get 70 percent, 80 percent or even 95 percent on a test. Although it is true 95 percent is a very good grade, it should be also known that this 5 percent gap is still something the student is having trouble on or is something they are still not clear about. Having said this to the audience, he then moved on to call this gap in his words the”swiss cheese gap” that the students gradually build up on as they move on different tests and higher classes. It is because of this one solid fact that I can say why kids who are very proficient in one area tend to do good in that one particular area while do bad in the other. Unless these students go back on that gap that they got wrong or are still struggling, they won’t be able to efficiently move onto more advanced concepts built primarily on what they got wrong about.
    It is this key idea what the Khan Academy is pursuing to achieve and implement on a global scale. By using technology on their side, teachers are now able to interact with students better and at the same time, know the areas each student are proficient and most importantly, what areas each particular student find difficult.
    I honestly cannot find anything negative about what Khan Academy is trying to pursue or achieve, however, the one thing i am quite skeptical about is how efficient the organization will be since they are still in their infant stage.
    The video in many ways reminded me of my past experiences in math education. When i was little, i was very shy to ask teachers questions on topics that i found difficult to understand. As a result, I struggled on later classes and on topics that I found difficult to understand. It was not until, I understood that particular topic, that i started to find it everything based on that topic to be easy.
    To summarize, this is what Khan Academy is trying to achieve. For example, by properly utilizing this technology , teachers are well informed on the areas their students are predominantly weak and good at. As a result, the teachers can focus more time interacting with those students that are predominantly weak and get them on the same level as those students that are strong in that key concept.

    • debitcard says:

      I find the whole notion of the “swiss cheese gap” very fascinating. My struggles with succeeding may be because I’ve not yet fully mastered these “gaps”. By not experimenting and building on my failures, there is no way I can move forward.

    • alamin163 says:

      Yes, I totally agree with you. This is very inspiring and helpful. And just like you I was also very shy to ask teachers questions. As a result, there was always a gap of learning/understanding on particular topic. So, Khan academy is really helping those who are shy to ask questions.

  3. tonymei999 says:

    Jiarong Mei

    Both videos talk about a similar theme. In both veideos they have tocuhed upon the issue about redefining and reevaluating the educational system, and that the ways of the old is no longer sufficient enough to ready the students of today for the professions of tomorrow.

    The thing that I liked in both videos is there ideas on how to use the internet, blogs and videos to help students relate better with the real world. I am really happy that such teachers/professors are trying there best to make students to understand the value of what they learn. In addition because the budget for education has always been very low in comparison to the budget for advertising and sales, it is cool to see teachers/professors using a free source to try to make up for the budget.

    One thing however I disagree with in both videos is that since we can use technology to instigate learning in schools, it is a great idea in public schools, however in private schools and colleges, if a professor were to use material such as those in the classroom , and its not strictly limited to math education, while students have to pay at least 5k a year, they are clearly ripping them off. If education and learning was so inspiring while its free, I believe if students were to pay for it then they should get even more out of it.

    In the end if public high schools would use this technique to teach there students they are raising the bar and when students reach there potential through the public education they have already reached that bar. If students are to pay for a college the professors themselves need to raise the bar for themselves to keep up. Otherwise students are doing nothing but paying for a degree. Here is another good video that i found that talks about the issue behind education

  4. Tony Aguirre says:

    Antonio Aguirre, 6638, “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”

    A.“The main idea is…” = humanizing the classroom, allowing students of all ages to work at their own pace, allowing teachers access to critical data for increasing the efficiency of the time spent with students, and enabling a smart-type system for tutoring help.

    B.“One thing that I liked is…” = the innovative use of current technology coupled with the initiative to make math easier, more enjoyable, and consequently more retainable.

    C.“One thing that I don’t agree with is…” or “One thing that I am skeptical of is…” = The video in my opinion was well thought out with regards to its arguments and proposals. There is not much I am skeptical about…especially at the end once Bill Gates sayed, “Folks I think you just saw a glimpse of the future of education.” I vote yes to all items addressed within this video.

    3.Did the video remind you of anything in your own experiences in math education?
    Yes, I took a college algebra class in Texas and it utilized alot of online homework and video instruction as well as peer assisted learning.

  5. avald1046 says:

    Anthony Valdez
    sect 6637
    “math class needs a makeover”

    The main idea of this video is to highlight the issues of teaching techniques used int the USA today. One thing I did like about the video is that Meyer really made a key point about math intuition, and how important it is. He also quoted Albert Einstein speaking about the importance of the formulation of a problem, which I think is what really gives you an essential thought process necessary for mathematics. It was really interesting how he “pitched” a problem to his students in a thought provoking way, in order to get every student involved which I think is genius! However one thing I do not agree with is how he attacks books for setting up problems bland and unrealistic. I think its OK for anyone to learn any math subject by simply memorizing a technique or formula. I mean if you do not have an interest in a subject but really have no choice but to pass it, if memorizing formulas gets you to pass then so be it.

    • avald1046 says:

      3. The video did remind me of my statistics professor and how he made a similar statement during class. He was saying about how students only want a formula but don’t really how it works or where does it come from.

  6. Section 6638
    “Math class needs a makeover”

    The video was about how disinterested students are with math and how a teacher can try to work around these issues to present the material in a way students can understand. I liked how the man giving the presentation explained how math is loathed by most, setting the example about selling a product to a disinterested market yet the law forces them to buy it. Also, students often need a re-lecturing because they did not understand the material and how they frequently ask for the equations right away instead of understanding the formulation required to fully understand the formula. I found it skeptical on how he said that some text books tend to (in my own words) dumb things down because personally I find it more complicated when reading and trying to understand a topic. The video reminded me that most of my math classes from middle & high school had disrespectful students that totally shunned the material and abandoning the more difficult math problems instead of putting in the effort. It is as the presenter said, that student can’t join conversations in class because of not fully understanding the material.

  7. igorekk132 says:

    Igor Myshchenko Section 6638
    “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”
    The main idea of this video was to use special internet sources like videos from youtube, or software from Khan Academy in order to assist student in understanding their current topic which they are learning in school or college.
    I am truly excited to see this idea being published and accepted by teachers. The reason why I am approving this approach to enhance education because I started watching videos online on math, physics and circuit analysis myself. The use of video is very handy, easy and independent. I choose when to watch it, i pause whenever I get stuck in order to try out the problem and get closer to the point which i dont understand ( and I get stuck very often). In 10 minute video I always take notes and pause the video minimum 20 times in order to absorb and fully get involved with cause of the outcome. Very large amount of people watch videos on youtube and leave amazing comments, that in class they didn’t understand the topic but after watching one video it becomes completely clear to them.
    As a result I already enrolled in the website Khan Academy ( thanks to professor Reitz for providing me with such valuable information) and looking forward in using it during the summer vacations to review algebra, trigonometry and physics to be confident with coming back to City Tech in fall and continuing my curriculum with full confidence and excitement.

  8. mmiltz says:

    Melissa Miltz
    Section #6638
    Salman Khan, creator of Khan Academy, speaking on “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”

    1. Khan has two main points in his talk. The first one he refers to as “flipping the classroom”. That is, students can spend their own time and take their own pace to learn the material at home as prescribed by the curriculum, so that when they get to classroom the teacher can work on practical examples with them at each individual’s level. He compares this to the traditional classroom (a “one-size-fits-all” curriculum) where teachers simply give a lecture and have students complete homework at home, where they often struggle and have no source of help. Khan says that “flipping the classroom” can raise the productivity of the classroom experience since teachers would be giving 100% of their time to helping the students work out what they don’t understand, instead of 5%, where one-on-one time isn’t available since lecture take up most of the class time.

    The other idea he talks about can be summed up by this quote from his talk: “…the traditional model, it penalizes you for experimentation and failure, but it does not expect mastery. We encourage you to experiment, encourage failure, but we do expect mastery.” He explains that even smart children can’t excel at math when they aren’t properly learning certain concepts. Then they are forced to move on because of the way the typical math curriculum is set up, and eventually they can fall behind. Khan says that his academy strives to fill these gaps as the student uses the videos to learn so that they have a solid foundation and can then move on to other areas which require knowledge of that particular math topic.

    Khan’s ultimate goal is to have a “global classroom” such that all kinds of people can learn subjects in their entirety, at an individual pace.

    2. One thing that I liked is the part where Khan showed the data tracking from the Los Altos school district monitoring each child’s progress for each topic so that a teacher could see exactly what concepts are troubling a student. That enables a teacher to either address the student personally or have a peer who excels at that topic tutor the student . This is a really smart and useful tool for teachers to use in order to gauge how the time should be spent in the classroom.

    3. One thing that I’m skeptical about in regards to video-based education is that even though, as Khan prescribes, teachers will work with students after the video-lesson has been watched, it may be difficult to learn from videos if there are fundamental questions about the material that a student would need answered before they can understand what the video is attempting to teach. That would mean a student can watch, say, the first two minutes of a ten or fifteen minute video, and get stuck right away if there is a fundamental part of the lesson that they simply can’t understand and have no teacher to ask for clarification. Personally, not being able to ask questions as the lesson is being taught for the first time would greatly frustrate me.

    4. Watching this video reminded me a little bit of how our Calculus class is conducted. Often we take a good chunk of class-time to work on problems individually or in small groups. During this time you (Professor Reitz) circulate around the class to help us through the parts of the exercises that are confusing or frustrating. At the same time, this allows for peer-to-peer “tutoring” where students attempt to help each other if they already understand the concept being taught. That is kind of similar to the idea Khan has about making the most out of the classroom time and having more valuable teacher-student time.

    • I really liked your argument about how if a student might have a question while watching the videos. Whose gonna answer that? Well I think I’ll invent a robot and program all the videos in it and let students ask questions. I think that might solve the problem. Joking man. Seriously i dont have a valid answer but That something to think about.

    • endri says:

      there is a problem about the idea of making this like a ‘one single world class’ as he says it. I think technology in some places isn’t at the same levels as it is in some advanced countries and people might not have internet access not even in the school, while people in US or other advanced places surf internet from their phones on their way to school or work.

  9. kedeshia1111 says:

    Kedeshia Symister 6637 “Math class needs a makeover”

    • kedeshia1111 says:

      Dan Meyer a weblogging high school math teacher talks about how he approaches the challenge of motivating his students to think about math in a fresh, new way, and how he transforms them into “patient problem-solvers”. That was his main idea. One thing i liked is that he made a compelling case in five simple changes….. which is the use of multimedia, encouraging intuition, ask the shortest questions you can, let students build the problem and be less helpful. He said he has seen it so many times, of professors giving students probelms with no formulation. I like that he wants to redefine math. We have the tools to create this project, which is technology. One thing i disagree with is that he said it is a good time to become a math teacher, but not when they are still going to teach like that. I heard somebody once said that you cannot teach anyone math because math is a concept. I work in the Counseling Service Center at City Tech and this video reminds me of why i see students come into the office taking their remedials and some of them have failed it twice already and they have to attend another school because of this. In the office we conduct workshops, and one of our workshops is called Math Anxiety which some students take advantage of. It is a great workshop and i encourage students to attend them because they deal with alot of issues as to why you may have a problem with math !

  10. Gurpreet singh l section 6637 l Salman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education

    Education was always available on YouTube before khan academy but it was not efficient because it was not organized. What khan academy did was put everything in order. Every topic and subject is made easier to learn at khan academy. I watch Salman videos and Its been very effective. It made my grades better than they used to be.

    The main idea of the video was not only to introduce the world to an easier way to learn but also a cheaper way to get education. Its also less time consuming as well because what we learn in 10 years of our lives we can now learn in 10 months. A child can master math up to calculus by watching all the math videos in no time. Khan academy has made education free and it all depends on individuals and how they take advantage of it.

    One thing I liked about the video was how Salman was comparing riding a bike to learning math. You learn at your own pace. That is what makes khan academy unique. You can go back to which topic you learned.

    What do not like about khan academy is that its limited to people. Not everyone in the world speaks English. Basically that the main reason why its most popular in the united states and not in the entire world. I’ve also noticed the subtitles for the videos but their not that help if you ask me.

    Khan academy helped me a lot during biology last semester. I felt my prof wasn’t clear enough and I was doing bad on exams and it wasn’t me alone it was many other people. But in mid semester I started watching Salman videos and it helped me get good grades on my other exams as well as the final.

  11. Kawaii says:

    David Chen Section 6638
    “Math Class Need a Make Over”

    The main idea of this video is about the teaching techniques used in the US. I Like how he talk about the important of math espically for engineer. I saw a video of youtube call Eduction System in America where most American engineer cant handle the job offered for engineers. Where the goverment use the H-B1 visa which allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. One thing i disagree with is that he said it is a good time to become a math teacher, But i dont think we need new math teacher, we just need the current teacher to improve theyre way of teaching. The one thing i like about it was that he pointed out the importance of math.

  12. ashafi says:

    Amara Shafi (6638) Video 2 Salman Khan, creator of Khan Academy, speaking on “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”
    1.The main idea of this video was to show how online videos can help students understand the subjects that they once struggled with. The creator of Khan Academy, Salman explains how he used his online videos to help student learn math at their own pace. They were able to work on the problems, pause, rewind anything they did not understand. They were able to do all this without feeling embarrassed because they simply did not understand the concept the first time. Salman shows how he uses his website to encourage failure but to expect success ultimatley. This way students are not penalized for making mistakes and are actually learning. Students are learning without feeling as though they are unappreciated for their work.
    2.One thing I liked about this video is that Salman shows how his website helped students grasp concepts that they were stuck on. I like that the students are able to learn at their own pace and are not intimidated by their teachers for asking too many questions. This way they are able to rewind, pause and learn completely at their pace that they are comfortable with. One thing I liked that Salman mentioned was that Swiss cheese gap that are made when students are given this forehead stamp of a C but are expected do go ahead and try harder concepts. I think that this is how the school system has been for several years, teaching children that they are not good enough. It is sad but I’m glad that there are people out there like Mr. Khan who realize that this is all so wrong and figured out a way to help students who are struggling realize that they too can succeed.
    3. I wouldn’t say I’m skeptical or do not agree with much because I actually like the idea of having a virtual school on your computer. i just wouldn’t think every student would go out their way and watch these videos especially younger students. Many of them would figure that there is no one watching over them like a teacher at school so this is their chance of slacking. However in the classroom using this idea of using videos and having the teacher involved is very interesting and I believe it will encourage kids to do better.
    4. This video definetley reminds me of our class, math 1575. As I am typing this I’m realizing that we are not only learning math in the classroom but we are discussing it on open lab, where we are able to communicate to our peers. Also we have groups or pair up and do problems which allow us to figure out problems together. It becomes more engaging for students and lightens the atmosphere.

  13. endri says:

    Endri Domi 6637 “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”

    To start with, I am pretty impressed with the idea that Khan came up with. It started very simple, just trying to help his cousin and then millions of people found his videos very helpful, and who knew: today he is one of the greatest people who inspired not only educated students in US but also kids in Calcutta as he mentions. The main idea of this video is to be able to make a ‘global one world classroom’ where kids and people all over the world help each other through Khan Academy. To tell the truth I was so curious about this website that I registered there while I was writing this post and I took some of the tests which were amazing. One thing that I liked about is the idea that he came up with, unity of people around the world. Something that I don’t like is that Khan Academy is not advertised in different places. I am pretty sure that if they would advertise it on television channels or especially in social networks like Facebook where there are 500 million users, people would be curious like me and check it out and most of them would find it helpful. When I was little, like everyone else I used to really struggle with math solving problems and I wish I had such a great program like this.

    • jesus22 says:

      I agree with what you say endri. This idea will change how math is taught in schools. You make a great point that the website can really teach and polish the student understand by making sure they get 10 right in a row. I also took a look at the websites and did a few problems. I also agree that Khan Academy is not advertised in different places. This is the first time I ever heard about this website. If it wasn’t for Cal II I wouldn’t have known about this great website.

  14. bbravo999 says:

    Bryan Bravo, 6637, “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”

    This video is a about a man call Khan, and has invented a website( Khan Academy) that teaches students how to do math problems at there own pace. The main idea is to create a global classroom using technology, specifically the internet. So students can learn lectures online, and do hw in class so they can have more interactions with teachers and students. I agree with khan that using the internet to help students learn math. It can even be better than going to an actual lecture. But i don’t think that using the internet should be exercising so much because it can create bad happen for students by relying on the internet or khans academy to get answers. This all reminds me of my current class calculus two with Mr, retiz, he uses websites and technology to help students do better in math and make math a fun experience. overall he has doe a good job.

  15. bettygeorge says:

    Bettyann John-George section 6638

    I agree with Dan Meyer math do need a make over. Math is not explain enough in the class room. We are being encourage to memorize and decode a problem in order to pass an exam. I am not great at math but I think the use of real life examples would have helped me better understand it. I sincerely hope the way math is being thought would be change for the next generation.

  16. Daniel Edwards 6638 “Math Needs A Makeover”
    The main idea of this video is that the way math is being taught to students needs to change. Dan Meyer pointed out that examples in textbooks provide students with the tools to memorize ways to complete a given an example rather than learning the how to do the problem completely. I remember being in high school and looking over the methods used to do example problems rather than trying to learn how to do the problem on my own. It was sort of like memorizing a formula which isn’t the correct way to learn. One thing I liked is the way Dan Meyer outlined the many flaws in the way students are being taught today. One thing I don’t agree with is that just because a problem is visually nice to look at doesn’t mean a student will learn more from it.

    • zbrowne says:

      I agree that memorizing methods and/or formulas isn’t the best way to learn. Making it become more of a “natural” thought process becomes a lot more efficient when solving a math problem. When you can look at a problem & by instinct know which formula to use rather than to having a million formulas memorized in your head to choose from, that is when Math becomes more mastered. Memorizing methods is only the first step to learning a problem. Making it instinct is the step to follow that makes you truly learn.

  17. debitcard says:

    Koonhoi Xie, Section 6638 “Salman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education”

    1) The main objective of the video is to display a new meaning of teaching instead of the traditional classroom system. Sal wants to implement a new way of learning through the use of technology. He suggested that teachers let students do “homework” in school, and give them video lectures to watch at home.
    One thing that I liked is this system allows students to go home and visually learn at their own pace. When they return to school, teachers can give them homework based on what they learned, while still having the teachers assist them. This can force interaction amongst fellow classmate. It is efficient because students don’t have to feel they are disinterested in the subject.

    2) My only skepticism is student’s inability to maintain focus while at home reviewing the lectures off a computer. It is no different than teachers assigning homework for students to do at home. Some students don’t do their homework because they are occupied with their personal agenda. This can occur similarly with lectures given as “homework”.

    3) The video reminds me a lot of our current class. Assignments are done online weekly. The lectures are just a review of the homework. Professor gives similar problems to HW, and comes around to assist students if they need help. This is somewhat analogous to Khan’s notion of “reinventing education”.

  18. Karen L. says:

    Karen Li Section 6637 “Math Class Needs a Makeover”

    The main idea of the video is that math curriculums need to be better. Dan Meyer has this idea that the world needs more “patient problem solvers.” One thing that I liked about this is that it allows the student to actually think about problem logically instead of using just the math formulas and information that is just given to us. It helps the student not just how to get the solution, but to understand why they get the answer that they got. That is a much more effective mean of teaching mathematics. One thing that I don’t agree with is the way he described the textbooks. It is true that they give step by step solutions, but if there was no actual teacher there to introduce the material, the student will still be able to figure out the solution.

    The video does remind me a lot about the teaching styles of many teachers and professors I’ve had in the past. Many of them do not explain why we get the answer. They put formulas on the board and expect us to just do the problems. When taking physics in both high school and college, only the formulas were introduced without any implications as to why we even need to know them or how to apply them in the real world.

    • koshygkoshy says:

      I just wish there were more teachers like Dan Meyer who is willing to spend most of their time trying to help their students rather than being only focused on getting through the syllabus they have to cover.

      • Fly Jay says:

        One thing that I really liked about Dan was that he took pictures of objects as opposed to trying to draw them on the board. This gave it a sense of real-world application and makes the problem more interesting. I also like how he made the questions as bare as possible giving the student the opportunity to figure out what is needed

  19. sandrorivas says:

    Sandro Rivas, 6638, “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”

    The main idea of this video is to change the way teaching by the use of multimedia, simplifying questions, and being less helpful

    B.“One thing that I liked is…” = the innovative use of current technology coupled with the initiative to make math easier, more enjoyable, and consequently more retainable.

    C.“One thing that I don’t agree with is…” or “One thing that I am skeptical of is…” = The video in my opinion was well thought out with regards to its arguments and proposals. There is not much I am skeptical about…especially at the end once Bill Gates sayed, “Folks I think you just saw a glimpse of the future of education.” I vote yes to all items addressed within this video.

  20. sandrorivas says:

    Sandro Rivas, 6638, “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”

    The main idea of this video is to change the way of teaching by the use of multimedia, simplifying questions, and being less helpful. The one thing I like is the use modern technology in which is it makes learning more interesting. The one thing that I don’t agree with it is being less helpful when it comes to textbooks because every student has a different pace of learning. Unfortunately I have never experienced this form of learning.

  21. lance12 says:

    After watching Salman Khan’s “Lets use video to reinvent education”, I believe the main ideo of this video is that Mr. Khan is conveying this notion of changing the “traditional” classroom into giving the students video lectures. With that, students could learn at their own pace in their homes. Suggesting that students could do homework in the classroom, with the teacher providing extra help if neccessary. One thing I liked about the video is how Mr. Khan is able to take advantage of a simple concept of using today’s technology to provide assistance with math (along with other subjects), worldwide. This makes Math alot easier and more confortable for those who are struggling with a particular topic. However, I am skeptical about teacher’s role in the future. Though I completely agree with this new way of learning, I understand that in each Math class, it moves at a certain pace. I’m not sure whether or not a teachers role would diminish.

  22. takther2009 says:

    Taslima Akther
    Section: 6638
    “Math needs a makeover”
    The main idea is to show how Dan Mayer in the U.S.A. math education is taught in a wrong style and it needs some major changes. Some of his points were very valid and thoughtful. One thing I liked is when he used the textbook sample question to back up his points. He says how sample question should be used in a way which student can learn from and can practice math in all different situation. Instead the sample question is used to decode during the exam. Students are usually given the same type of information and question, which makes the math little unrealistic. Math problems should be design in a way that the student will be able to think deeper and understand the meaning and the uses of the math. One thing that I disagree was the fact he used the illustration on the textbook as a big distraction. I believe that those images in the text book kind of make it more a friendly math. It shouldn’t always look serious, and then things will always be boring in the math class. If it’s always a serious type or realistic type o illustrations, then it block our creative imaginations. Sometime these illustrations help us to make unrealistic to real, and that will help for someone who is going for engineering. This video reminds me of high school, when I use to freak out over math regents. My only intention was mostly to somehow pass the exam with good grade, not to learn the deepness of it. I always believed that knowing the basic of math is good enough.

  23. zbrowne says:

    Name: Zekeba Browne Section Number: 6638 Video: “Math Class needs a makeover”

    The main idea of this video is that the way Math is taught in classrooms today is not as efficient as it should be. Many students today just temporarily absorb what they’ve “learned” or better yet memorized & end up memorizing it without reasoning behind it. One thing I liked is how Dan Meyer often compared aspects in Math classes to real life events such as watching a simple television show. He also had another great comparsion from a math aspect to a movie aspect. “We don’t just go and get our answers from the answer key in the back of a teacher’s edition, we instead just watch the end of a movie.” That is interesting because if you think about it, just watching the end of a movie doesn’t really give you the “juice” of the movie just like going to the answer key doesn’t give you the “juice” of the problem.

    One thing that I don’t agree with is the way textbooks were described in learning material. Even though they may provide material in steps without a teacher present to assist the student, he/she will still be able to figure out the solution in another way, even though it may not be the most ideal way to it.

    The video did remind me of my past days or learning math. I was always one that wanted to get straight to the answer & never wanted to pay too much to the details in between. Even dating back to elementary school when math was first introduced to me, I always wanted an easier way to land myself to an answer.

  24. shawnnyboyyy says:

    Shawn Finn, Mat 1575, 6637, math needs a makeover

    This video really hits on the key problems with math education today. The main idea is the reason students dont enjoy and excess in math, it due to the methods of teaching it. The current methods just throw numbers on a page and ask you to solve the question. To be honest I feel 1575 has been that way. We do all these problem with limits and derivitives, series, converging, diverging but in all honesty does anyone in the class know how to relate any of the formulas we have learned/used into a real life problem. The one thing I liked about the presentation is he really addressed the key issues that we have in the education system. The people writing these textbooks are all from academia and dont have a grasp on the math we need to know and understand to use in the real world. I would say I dont agree with things that he said but I do. He touched on every major point/problem in math education. Our lower level math education doesnt prepare student enough to take college level courses, hence the reason students graduate high school taking calculus and when given an entrance exam to college only score high enough to take 1275. Ive had this discussion with other math teachers in high school and most of them agree. The real issue is that we need educators that are dedicated enough to want to change the system rather then just teach the material and go home.

    Math is not the only subject where this exsists. It is becoming more of an issue in sujects such as science as well

  25. mendozak says:

    Khoreece Mendoza
    Mat 1575: 6638

    “Let’s use video to reinvent education”

    Dan’s point is that contemporary teaching methods used in our classrooms are inefficient and unhelpful. Rather than bringing the student into the conversation and challenging him or her to effect and derive the problem itself, he or she is given a laundry list of pre-packaged formulas and values to plug-in and solve.

    One thing I appreciated was Dan’s initiative to take a problem from the textbook and break it down to it’s bare bones; to an almost inefficient standard by contemporary teaching methods. But his approach is more constructive because the students gain a grasp of the concepts and retain them, as opposed to mimicking or memorizing.

    One gripe I have with his methods is the amount of time it would take to cover a curriculum’s worth of math material with this approach. Students would likely have a better grasp of the material, but the material one could cover would be fractional if students spent half a class watching a jug fill with water for the purpose of bringing the experimental to the theoretical. In that regard, customary teaching methods are ahead of his.

    In my personal account, lots of high school students struggled with word problems because of the regiment of which Dan describes. Taking “pre-packaged”pieces of information and putting them into a formula. The problem gets solved, but a similar word problem arises and the same student doesn’t know what to do because they haven’t really grasped the concept. Our way around this was similar to Dan’s in that we made up the information ourselves based on logic and reasoning. And even if the answers didn’t abide by nature, or were humorous to thing about in realistic terms, they were helpful because the learning methods were constructive as opposed to cut and paste.

  26. theozeng says:

    Theo Zeng
    MAT 1575 Section 6638
    “Salman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education”

    The main idea of this video is how students can learn better in class and outside of the classroom. Interactive tutorial videos of many subjects are now available online in websites such as Youtube. These can help students understand math problems better because they can use their time to go over it over and over again without having to ask the professor to explain the problems.

    One thing that I like is how Mr. Khan, who quit his job in order to provide tutoring videos to people on youtube. He wanted others to have a fun time learning. I was one of them. I have used his tutoring videos on Youtube before to help me better understand math problems such as integrating and deriving functions. He really does a good job explaining them.

    One thing that I don’t agree with is how this might become the future of education. I don’t believe we will be able to learn much from education videos at home instead in a classroom. To become successful we have to go to college or universities and get our degrees. Professors, although some do not have an effective way of teaching, can help influence a student’s future career.

  27. rupadsingh says:

    Rupa Drikpalsingh Section 6637 “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”

    The the main key idea of this video is Salman Khan explaining why he created Khan Academy, which is an organization for the benefit of helping students through a series of educational videos. Its about allowing students to work at their own pace and have more one on one time with their teachers. One thing I liked about what he said is, the Swiss cheese representation of our education, when we have these holes that restrict our learning capabilities, it prolongs the processes, depresses the fire of learning, and creates unnecessary stress, without even realizing these holes are there. All because one teacher is trying to teach many students at a time. it is ignorant to think that all the students will receive the lesson the same way. There isn’t anything that i am skeptical about regarding this video, i believe that this concept to integrate these videos into the class room is an excellent idea. This video reminds me of our calculus class, where we have to go on web work to do homework and we are allowed to break off into little group where our peers can help us.

  28. Kevin Valencia
    MAT 1575-6639
    “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”

    as the video loaded i glanced over the description box and recognized the KhanAcademy name. it rung a bell in my head. then i was like, “whoa! i know what this is!!!” I’ve been watching some of Khan’s videos on physics and instantly felt interested in what the video was about. i opened up the page thinking this was going to be one of those boring educational videos. i was so very wrong. the montage was very nice to see.

    “if this does not blow your mind… then you have no emotion”

    I literally laughed out loud on that one. in this video, Salman Khan explains the origin of his very successful tutorial videos. he explains what his initial goals were, what the viewers’ reactions was, and how this helped him develop a very comprehensive system of videos and online resources at any student’s disposal. the main idea here is to create a network where students can seamlessly interact with one another. i really like what Salman has in mind. He mentioned that his goal was to create a “universal classroom” this video reminded of the times where i would wish my professor would repeat his lecture a few more times until everything would sink into my head. int eh videos, i can have Salman repeat himself over and over again, until i fully understand the topic.

    i feel like a student’s downfall comes with a lack of structure in their studies. khanacademy addresses this issue with a unique approach to developing a study system, from the very foundations of mathematics to Calculus and beyond.

  29. Abdoulaye says:

    Abdoulaye Diakite 1575/6638

    The Second video, “Let’s use video to reinvent education” is the best idea to teach since it’s much easier to learn when you are learning at your own pace and time.

    The main ideas in this video is to show how wonderful math teaching and learning can be via “video or tele-teaching.” Not only students, but also teachers, parents and tutors can all work in their own times to teach and polish students skills. with this system, teachers can easily target and lock on each student’s weak points in math (in this case) and help the student overcome them.

    I really do like the way, he said, even parents can log-in and directly see their children’s progress. Even better, someone else can easily peer a student and help him/her without having to see them.

    There’s not a lot of bad thing about this videos teaching, some students might think that they’re being exposed, but i think students can use a log-in name instead of their real names.

    The video reminds me of myself, i always been thinking about something like this. when i was a kid, i used to always watch this TV channel that helped me understand a lot of concepts. I also been using some youtube videos to lean number of topics.

  30. Mansoor Baig says:

    Mansoor Baig Math 1575: Section 6638
    Video 2 “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”

    The main idea of this video is to show how implementing technology into our classrooms may improve the grades of students. By using prerecorded videos to gain intuition on a subject and have more one on one time with teachers who are readily available during class hours. I happen to like everything that Salman Khan does. When my friend introduced me to him 2 years ago, i would recommend the website to anyone who seemed to be struggling. One thing im not so sure about is…i have nothing to say. I think the idea is great. If you take our classroom as an example, we only get some minutes where Mr.Reitz comes along to help us out. If we were able to watch some video and get the gist of the lesson beforehand, we would have much more time to go over the bumps. I guess some people would say that this new idea can ruin our current education system….as if it isnt already. Since i use this man’s videos often, i feel what he speaks is true, for me at least. I had no idea about his video branching as I would dive right into the topic Id like to learn. Now I really want to sit down and start from scratch. Learning can be fun if not rushed.

  31. justinblaize says:

    My name is Justin Negron, I’m in MAT 1575 Section 6637, and I chose Salman Khan’s video “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”
    The main idea of the video is prove how teaching in a classroom isn’t the only way a student can learn a topic. Mr. Khan encourages the use of technology to teach worldwide!
    One thing I liked was his encouragement to teachers to give students video lecture’s to watch at home on their own time and at their own pace, then having them do what use to be a homework assignment in the classroom. Another thing I liked was when he mentioned the child with autism being able to learn a few topics he was stuck in by watching Mr. Khan videos. That right there just proves how the use of technology can benefit the education of students. I also thought it was pretty cool when he explained how he started to create all these videos.
    I actually agreed with everything in this video. I personally used the Khan academy website before when I had trouble with my Physics class. The video’s I watched were very effective and it gave me confidence about the topic as well.
    This video did remind me of how you (Professor Reitz) used technology such as WebWork. I thought it was a great way to give us homework because you always gave us the chance to go over anything that we missed or didn’t quite understand in the classroom.

  32. stan says:

    Student: Stanislav Podolski
    Section: 6638
    Video: “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”
    The main idea of this video was that the current system of math education cannot address a lot of issues. Because of those issues many students eventually fail to succeed in math. Khan academy is a new system which allows for more individual attention to each student which leads to a better quality education.
    One thing that I liked is that Khan Academy finally breaks this one size fits all rule. I’m 100% agree that everyone can learn math but everyone also has his or her own pace of learning. What often happens is that fast learners get bored in class and slow learners get frustrated. This new system solves this by allowing teachers to monitor each student performance on the constant basis.
    One thing that I am skeptical of is that if company like Khan Academy will become wide spread like say Windows OS then this company will have a monopoly on our education, which is not a very good thing I guess).
    Somewhere in the video the lecturer compares gaps in education with holes in Swiss cheese. That is something that happened to me (and I’m sure happened to a lot of other students). I remember that I got sick or something and did not attend school for about 2 weeks. Obviously that my class was way ahead of me by the time I came back. I was struggling until I sat down and went over the material that I’ve missed. That would not happened in Khan Academy)

    Since everything becomes computerized, I think, chances are really high that something like Khan Academy will become a base for the education of the future.

  33. andy21 says:

    Mahendra Seepersaud
    MAT 1575-6637
    “Salman Khan: Let’s use video to reinvent education”

    The main idea of this video is to further better the Mathematical educational process for the current generation of students. In general, Salman Khan proposed that students receive lectures in the form of videos that would always be available to them at home. After viewing these videos at home, the students will be better prepared to work in school. By having these lessons available at home online, students will be able to learn at their own pace as a result of having total control of the videos. Students are free to pause and rewind the videos as much as they like so that they can focus on problem areas.
    One thing that I like about his methods is the different charts that are available to track the student’s progress in learning the material. These collections of data will further help math teachers to get in touch will the progress of their students. In addition, parents can also get involved and will be able to see their children’s progress. This seems to be a great tool to assist in the education of math students.
    On the other hand, one thing that I am skeptical about is a standardization of this teaching method. Namely, not every student necessarily has access to the internet at home. Teachers would still have to play a major role in the education process and not rely on the online videos relate the students to new materials. In addition, there can be instances of which a student may not understand the concepts demonstrated in the videos they are viewing. Aside form some of the drawbacks that may arise from this method, I believe that these videos will serve as an excellent study guide for students since they can be used to reinforce material already learned.

  34. Musaib says:

    Musaib Ahmed,
    T, Th section 6637
    The main idea of the video “Let’s use video to reinvent education” is to change the regular class system in the United State. The world is now running by the technology. You have to use technology everywhere. So, why should not we use it in the class room. In his video Salman Khan says that it is better to have a video rather then a person. Because, you can view the video again and again. However, you can not do this to a person. If you ask to many question to the teacher, he or she might gets angry. Also, sometimes students feel shy to ask a question in the class. So, i think it is better to have a video rather than a person. One thing i don’t agree that he talk about the gap between the teacher and the student. I think in United State the relationship between teacher and student is good.I find that the teacher of the college and school is helpful. They give time to the students. This video remain me something about my high school. We had 50 students in the class and one teacher teach the class. So, it is very hard for us to get the all element of the class. If we had a system to view the lecture, we would do better in math.

  35. jishan007 says:

    Jishan Biswas
    MAT 1575, sec 6638
    “Math class needs a makeover”
    The main idea behind this video is math is taught in a wrong way in USA and the way of teaching math should be updated. He claims some logical and helpful points. one thing i like about this video is he tried to point out a key idea about perception of math and the importance of it. I also liked when in the end he said, “math makes sense of the world”, which is very true. However, one thing that i disagree is the way he attacked text books. Everyone is not very good in math. so, those students who has problem with math can solve math question by using formulas ans following textbooks. this video reminds me about one of my high school math teachers. He used to encourage us to use new techniques and to utilize our own capabilities.

    • Musaib says:

      Jishan a agree with you in some point. However, You said that some student are weak in math. If some one is weak, we should take care of those students. We should not change our text book. We have to think about majority not about the minatory.

      • jishan biswas i m agree with your point “i disagree is the way he attacked text books.everyone is not very good in math.so,those students who has problem with math can solve math question by using formulas ans following textbooks.” what u mean by this quote is students who don’t understand math very well they use the formula to solve the problem.

  36. Fengming08 says:

    Fengming Tan
    section#: 6637
    “Math Class Needs a Makeover”
    The main idea is about the ways of teaching math need to change. Teacher need to let the students to think and understand the problems, but not just give the steps how to solve. One thing that I like in this video, Dan meyer mentions that five very wrong things to do in the classroom. These five things are “Lack of initiative”, “lack of perseverance”, “lack of retention”, “aversion to word problem” and “eagerness for formula”. All of these I have done before. I was always hoping for a formula when I was young. I thought a formula can help me to solve the problem lot easier. Sometime I solve the problem, but I didn’t understand the concept behind it. I just used the numbers that given on the problem and plug them in the formula. One thing that I am skeptical is what he said in the video, “be less helpful”. Is this made the students to learn better? I think teacher should help the students until they fully understand the concept. You can let them to think of the problem, but what about they have no idea. So, I think appropriate helpfulness is necessary.

  37. Keyla says:

    Keyla Arana 1575/6637 Video 1

    The main idea of the video is basically what the title says, “Math Class Needs a Makeover”. It needs to be updated from the traditional methods we use to teach students. Students are not actually learning, but rather being fed certain facts and information that they must be forced to memorize. They are never given an actual chance to analyze the problems they are given. They spend more time trying to figure out the answers to the problem than actually analyzing the problem as a whole, and how it came to be. As philosopher Paulo Freire said, students are treated like bank accounts, where they are just “deposited” information that they are forced to memorize. He calls this “The Banking Concept of Education”. Freire believes that this method is a horrible way to teach students, as Dan Meyer believes. Instead, he proposes a new method, called the “Problem Posing Method”, in which students actually create dialogue with other students and analyze problems so that they can actually learn the answers, and not just receive them in “formulas”, like what is given in most classes. Meyer’s ideas are much like Freire’s ideas, in which he also believes that students should stop and think more about the problems they are given, and that they should think more about the formation of the problems rather than the answer. For example, it is better to know why “pi” equals what it equals, instead of just being handed what it equals. You are never really learning if you are just given the information without thinking it through first. One thing I liked about Meyer’s idea is that it allows students to actually use other methods of learning rather than memorizing answers and formulas. One thing that I am skeptical of however is the time frame it will take students to learn using this method. It is important for students to learn things within a certain time frame, and some students cannot do this, that is why the method of just giving students formulas is most commonly used.

  38. jermin says:

    The main idea of this video is that teachers/educators can use video and other medias/technology to help educate their students of the different math concepts at their own pace. One thing that I liked about the video is the fact that the kids can work to understand the math concepts at their own pace, while the teacher is still able to see where the student is in comparison to the rest of the class. If the child gets stuck on a particular concept, the teacher is able to assist the student individually or “even better” have that student work with another student that has mastered the concept. One thing that I am skeptical of is the fact that a program that is as successful as they claim it to be, could possibly be free. I suspect that if it is still free, it will not remain that way for much longer.
    The video did remind me of many of my own experiences in my math education. When Salman Khan spoke about children studying a concept for two weeks then taking a test and whether they understood 80% or 60% of the concept, the teacher still moved on to the next topic, and if that topic was based on something the student didn’t understand from the previous topic, it would just compound the problem, was a perfect representation of my early math education. When I was a child I struggled understanding fractions, and despite my lack of understanding the teacher continued on to the next topic, simplifying fractions, and then the next topic, changing fractions to decimals. It came to the point that I was so far behind in my understanding of math that I had to go for extra help after school. There I was able to finally grasp the concept of fractions, and from that point everything else that followed was straightforward to me; including the simplification of fractions and the changing fractions to decimals.

  39. Saqib Shaikh says:

    Saqib Shaikh
    6638
    “Lets Use Video to Reinvent Education”

    Let me start off by saying the ideas behind this video not only do I find as one of the most innovative, but also calming in the thought that it’s not only me who has negative thoughts about certain things about the education system.
    The main idea of Salman Khan’s presentation is the explanation of his nonprofit educational organization. He gives an insight on how his innovative way of teaching works with different strategic benefits it provides not only the students learning a subject; but teacher who teach it as well. A thought that I loved about this way of teaching is what Khan stressed a lot about; the fact that you’re able to learn at your own pace. I can’t speak for others, but I for sure know that I don’t practice the traditional “raising your hand if you’e got any questions”; cause I for some reason don’t want to be seen as “THAT KID”, but that may be just me. So when you’re able to go back and rewind and go through the video; slow it down, Write at your own pace. Stare at the problem before having it solved and moving on before you’ve got the full grasp of the problem is a major thing I agree with. I thought I would disagree with the only online lectures, cause I do have a feeling that human interaction of learning is something that shouldn’t be taken away. Technology takes away a lot of social moments and interactions and I think pure online courses are to just doom in person interaction even more; but when he says that you’re able to learn online; and then show what you’ve learned in class through practice and through discussion rather than strictly teaching in person is something I can accept.
    And lastly; my absolute favorite part of his speech was his analogy of riding a bike and moving on to a unicycle before you’ve mastered a trade. I feel like that is probably the most irritating part of this system. I find myself going through that a lot; especially in the math field. One the snowball starts rolling downhill with a topic I don’t understand, those topics tend to be the ones that always build and build until the crush me a graded letter that apparently judges me on whether i’m a ‘smart and productive’ individual to this society. And it always seems to be those topics rather than any other that just keeps buidling; the ones that come easy are thought in depth and then forgotten about but the ones that are more difficult and rushed through concepts by concepts just at a quicker pace trying to get to the harder idea of the original concept that never really stuck.
    Overall, I really appreciated the video.

  40. KHonda says:

    Jigme Woser #6637 “Math class needs a make over”

    The main point of this video is showing how unchallenging the math curriculum in America is. He shows this by giving real snapshots of how high school textbooks regard math and explaining their flaws as well as provides techniques of how to help stimulate students’ tolerance of working through math. One thing I found interesting in Meyer’s presentation was his thought on how students are taught math. Rather than working through situations and scrutinizing information to find what is really needed, students are spoon-fed answers by being easy walkthroughs and more than obvious answers. Although I don’t agree with his theory of these “spoon-fed” answers lowering the tolerance levels of students answering lengthy problems, I can relate to this through my own school experience. Often, when stuck on a problem that seemed too long, I would assume I’m doing something wrong and that the application of the math problem should be shorter. However, by looking at textbooks and seeing the simply application examples, I can see the main points that are critical and essential to understand. Overall, Dan Meyer’s presentation brought very valid points and techniques that can be helpful to others.

  41. Nazir Ahmed, section code:6638 and i choose the first video “math class needs a make over”

    The main idea of the video “Math class need make over” is to change the curricular of the math in the school in the United State. First thing we have do is change the problems of the books. In the video the author show how the problem is given in the book and what it ask for.However, he also mention that what should we do about this problem. He also talk about the students, that they are not intrastate in the math.So, we should change the problem of the books. We should give the student a participial view of those math Problems. so that they can view thing and how its work. I like the idea how he explain the thing about the gallon of water. So that students can see the thing in front of them. I really agree with him and it remain me my school life. Where in the math problem we have all the information we need and we also have a formula sheet. where we just have to plug the numbers in the formula and get the answer. Actually we don’t learn any thing from it. we just solve the problem.

  42. pchen says:

    Patrick Chen #6637 “Math class needs a makeover”

  43. alamin163 says:

    Mohammed Alamin (6638) “Let’s use video to reinvent education.”

    Khan academy is very unique and inspirational. This online educational program is helping millions of students throughout the whole world. The main idea is the process of “dehumanizing classrooms” to have better educational system through the advantage of technology. I really support this idea because there are many students who are very shy to ask teachers questions. Even by asking once or twice if the student still doesn’t understand, the next time he/she would feel uncomfortable to ask the same question again. Also, it might be annoying for the teachers explaining the same issues over and over again. However, Khan academy has the solution. A student can pause the video as many times as they want until they fully understand it without feeling uncomfortable in front of anyone. So, this is good for both the teachers and the students. However, the negative point to me is that as the technology advancing, there is disadvantage within the technology itself. People are depending so much on technology, and by that, they are losing their capability of using brain power. If something goes wrong with the technology, then you lose everything. Unfortunately, these days, we have no choice but depend on technology.

    • Musaib says:

      Mohammed i got your point of view. I have the same question to the world. If something went wrong in the technology, what will we do? However, we should step with the time and use the technology for our better life.

  44. shamonie22 says:

    Tollisha THompson Section 6637 “Math Class Need a Makeover”

    The main idea of the video is that students are having problems retaining math, the reason behind the problem and the solution.

    The one thing that that caught my attention and I liked were the 5 symptoms that were stated that we are doing math wrong. Some of the reasons listed were that we have an eagerness for formula. That made me smile because I know that I can relate. I’m always looking and waiting for a formula when a problem is given. Another reason is that most of the students avert from word problems. I definitely agree. I am not a fan of word problems. I actually hate it and freak out a little when they are presented to me.

    Meyer discussed that the textbooks does not contain enough examples. I definitely agree with that. I have looked for examples for given class questions in my current calculus textbook and cannot find them. I usually end up looking on Youtube to get the examples.

  45. Mirza Bhuiyan 1575/6637
    The main idea of this video is to show the way of teaching in schools these days. Students are getting everything ready instead of making ready for themselves. There so many students going to schools and having their education but they don’t even know why they are learning all these stuff in school. Doing a great analysis on this problem a honorable high school teacher used the math subject as an great example of wrong ways of teaching in schools. These teaching problems is so wide spread that even he scared to being consider a bad teacher to all other student and also scare of losing his job. He shows some intention that students are having to make their life easier and also shows some strategy that most student using to solve a particular math problem. That type of strategy that keeps those students away from being enlightened their brain and also make them unconscious what they actually doing. He showed some strategy that he uses for student to teach math. He thinks a teacher should let a student do solve their own problems by taking teachers help instead of just getting the solution without knowing how they came up and memorizing all math problems. He also pick up a sight of student is patience. Students just want to know the answer without understanding the problem. Modern technology also having a bad effect on student mind.

  46. pchen says:

    (Sorry about the post before)

    Patrick Chen #6637 “Math class needs a make over”

    The main idea of the video is to explain how the math curriculum taught in American schools are outdated. Students today are unmotivated and need be to encouraged from their teachers and from themselves. Students need to think outside the box, however it is difficult because today’s textbook are so simple and straight forward. Everything is given to you in the question, all you need is a formula to answer it. In life nothing worth wild is given to an individual, they have to earn it. One thing I liked about the video is the method of using multimedia to teach math. This generation needs visual education to learn. Watching something is easier than reading something. I believe if math teachers involve technology with their lessons, not only will the student learn more, but be more engaged in the lesson. However, I would disagree with the statement “It’s a good time to be a math teacher” because you should only be a math teacher if you’re passionate about math and children. The educational system does not need teachers, they need teachers that are willing to dedicate their time for the students.
    The video represents everything about my previous math education. Everything was so boring and straight forward. Everyone could find numbers from the question and apply it to a formula. No one cares how the formula works, how did they arrive to this formula, why purpose does this formula serve and etc. I believe math is a essential in life, so instead of avoiding it, embrace it.

    • aman1992 says:

      i am agree with solving problem all time form text book about is also kind of boring and student do not even like to solve it but if they do it practicaly like a water video and house then it would be new thing and interesting.

  47. ximenam1123 says:

    Ximena Morocho math 1575/6637 “math needs a makeover”
    While watching the video I realized that the way I was taught math was mainly by using formulas that I really did not understand. The main idea of this video is that our generation is being taught math through formulas instead of logically thinking through problems. One thing I like about the video is that Dan Meyer is trying to address this problem that our generation has. It is very important for my generation to understand where a formula comes from and how what are the steps that need to be taken. I believe that without a good understanding formulas are pointless and only confuse us as students. I like the way Dan Meyer tries to help students and give them an explanation for the formula being used and for the answers that we get. One thing that I am kind of skeptical about is the way he describes textbooks examples because I remember during my high school years I would be stuck with a textbook and no help but if I read thru the problem and keeped on reviewing the problem I was able to understand and do similar questions. Some proffesors do not really care if students understand concepts and formulas they just rewrite the examples in the textbook and think that can help us. I do believe that if we change the method that Proffesors teach we will have a better understanding.

  48. Fly Jay says:

    The video I watched was the video by Dan Meyer on developing patient problem solving and math reasoning in students. I think this is very important because I am a strong believer in the idea that math can be used to make sense of the world. Textbooks have become very easy to decipher and they rob students of the ability to critically think about a problem. I only have to look as far back as last semester for me to see how textbooks affect my education. And although textbooks seem to, at times, hinder a student’s learning experience, they are constantly being revised and the prices are skyrocketing, go figure :/

  49. aman1992 says:

    Amanpreet singh Section 6637
    “Math Class Need a Make Over”

    The main idea of this video is that, the way teacher teaches the math to student should be advance and more interesting. In this video he explains that we learn a math because we need it in real life to solve problems in Engineering , accounting.
    But becasue of the text book student do not learn that much in class. They have everything like a big text book with all examples and soultions and with a formula in every section of chapter due to which student do not learn anything practically . They just get a question with a equation like he show the physics problem and solve it which is not good.
    The thing which i liked about this video is the way how to make a math even more better and interesting for students and equivalent for students like he show the water example . In the end he said “math makes sense of the world”, which is a very true statement. People run into problems that simple math can probably help solve everyday so we should learn properly and I personally feel fairly strongly about: let students see some beauty of mathematics and learn to like it, or at the very least, make sure they do not feel negatively about mathematics .
    I am happy that teacher want student to take math seriously and learn with interesting way but in other case i am not even agree fully with this because if we make a math more tougher like with equation and just basic example of textbook then it would be hard for student to learn properly becasue the more they solve problem in textbook then the more they will learn because teachers are always in rush to complete their sylabus in smester which is the fact but student learn too. over all video was interesting and good.

  50. jesus22 says:

    Jesus Herrera
    Mat 1575/6637
    “Math class needs a makeover”

    The man idea of this video is to explain how today’s textbooks are too simple minded and doesn’t give the opportunity for the students to think about the situation. The textbooks are design to give you all the information need just to plug into a formula. Students are just reapplying what they learn though memory. All the questions are written in a way so students can just look at it, take out the numbers need and apply the formula that was given early. Even though there is some mixing of words and rewritten of the question or numbers are change. The idea is pretty much the same.
    This video brings a lot of good points to the table of educations. The point I really enjoyed was when he give a practical example to be solved. The question was how long would it take for this object to full up with water. he took it a step further by showing the real object and recording how long it really take for it to full up. This gives students a situation where they can apply the math they have learn. But even though it has some great point, were educators should put some consideration to. I don’t agree with the idea of “ask the shortest question you can”. I really don’t agree with this idea because educators should get students to keep asking questions. The educators need to give the students the opportunity to think.
    This video remind me when I was first learning math and how to apply it. I was always good friends with my teachers when I was in my younger years of school. They always kept saying how we aren’t learning the true meaning of math. Once I enter college math I then understood what they meant. College math is more work because u need to think outside the box and be able to apply all the math you have learn.

  51. prosenjitdas says:

    Prosenjit das, sec-6638
    And the video i used is “let’s use video to reinvent education”
    The main idea of this video is to show different in between education in a modern and old life. people now a days very familiar with the technology. technology made everything simple for us. As Salman khan said “his cousins liked his video but not him when he was teaching them” i also say the same. When we ask so many questions in class people think we are irritating or i think i’m irritating. one thing that i liked is when he mentioned about people responding him saying he made it easier. they said it was easier may be because everything was there for them which is forever not limited like a teacher.and other thing that i didn’t like is that All these videos are helpful but used as a product in market. And we do need our old school class without any technology because out skills improve in that way. Most of the people don’t even know how to solve simple questions sometime. so i thinks its required.

  52. ymerej613 says:

    Jeremy Li Mat 1575/6637 “Math Class Needs a Makeover”
    Most High School in America need to update their teaching style. Students really need to sit down and relax while doing their school work. I liked the part of the video where the person talks about the reality of students. This fact is tells me that this teacher understands a students mind. I did not like where the teacher harshly bashes on a student. This video reminds me so much of my own high school math classes. When i continue to watch this video, it reminds me of my high school math class was just like what this teacher talks about.

  53. mrcpotter says:

    Charles Potter Tues-Thurs “Math Class Needs a makeover”
    The main idea of this video discusses the current problems students face with learning math and how it is thought. The speaker Dan Meyer does a good job at pointing out issues he faced as a teacher and the weakness of the use of textbooks and how it cause students to not think critically but memorize formulas and apply it. I really liked the humor presented in the video especially about the water tank being filled up. This video reminded me of the current struggle I’m having with my linear algebra textbook and how the author makes it difficult to understand concepts, and on most problems when you go to check the answer in the back of the book it says “Refer to Study guide”, this forces me to rely on online notes and youtube videos to be my textbook. I really enjoyed this video.

  54. cthoma12 says:

    charles thomas sect 6637 “math class needs a makeover”

    The main idea of the video is to show what Dan meyer believes is wrong in the math education department and how we should fix it. He states that students are now a days just fishing for a formula to apply and get a result, instead he advocates in my opinion making many math problems correlate to real life. Problems in calculus like this appear so-so in the text books he gave an example of using a derivative to find the rate of change in a water tank. He went a step further and applied it to real life. I especially liked his speech about teachers that at times cannot connect with students and show them that math is not that hard i feel students feed of the professors energy a lot. He states that who he is teaching today are the leaders of tomorrow so in essence he is saying ” do a good job”. I also enjoy the applications to real life in math problems. But i feel as you get higher in math like differential equations it becomes enormous.
    One thing i disagree on 5. Be less helpful. Often times i find it time consuming to really go deeply into problems and figure out why this is that and viseversa. I feel students need all the help they can get . Not everyone taking calculus is an Engineer , or a physicist and at times it can be harder for them since math just creates the terrain for reasoning for them which is beneficial

    • george says:

      I completely agree with you, that it is difficult for teachers to connected with student. I feel that some teachers have this overwhelming personality that can capture the students attention which helps the students learn. A teacher can make the class fun and when learn is fun you enjoy coming to class. Not to mention learning is fun when you understand that the teacher is saying, and not only looking at the broad and nodding when the teacher asks if ever one understand , even if you very well know you have no clue what he or she is saying. If a teacher can keep a student focused during his lecture than it makes a big difference.

  55. george says:

    George Cobos
    Mat 1575/6637
    “Math class needs a makeover”

    The man idea of this video is to demonstrate how a more personalized form of education, rather than the 30 students to a single teacher ratio would have a greater impact in teaching students math. Technology has opened a door in which students are able to learn a they’re on pace. There are certain factors limit schools for reducing class size, from money to density populated communities. When students are able to watch videos online it help with the dilemma teachers encounter, of how to deal with students that learn at different speeds. Some students are quicker to learn new topics while other take a bit longer. The main idea is that math videos can be used as a tool help students that learn at different speeds.
    Math videos give teachers the ability to reach their student even after they leave the class room. With math videos and interactive computer programs teachers can help students learn at their own rate. Students can learn the material at home and in class review what they learned at home. Students can spend the full classroom time doing examples and polishing the steps required to solve the problem. This increase the amount of time a student is exposed to math which also increases the ability of the student to understanding the material.
    The thing that I find a bit problematic is that students will need to have a way to play the video via internet, DVD, or TV. The best way for the students to see the video would be the internet, but there will be situations were a student does have access to the internet. Another problem students will encounter are the distractions of being at home. Parent need to make sure that the students can watch the video and not be interrupted.
    While watch the videos I realized that in my case math does not always come easy. Sometimes it takes me a little long to grasp certain concept that other. I have notice that at time other student pick up on math faster than me, but I have found that once I get that little bit of extra attention I can understand the material just as well as anyone else. This approach of give student that extra attention will really level the playing field for the student that need just a little more time to learn a certain subject. This will help student not fall behide.

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