Category Archives: Announcements

Final grades are posted

Announcements, Grades

Hi everyone,

Your final grades for the course have been posted to CUNYfirst, and are also available on the OpenLab on our GRADES page.  The OpenLab grades contain all the detail for the semester, including your final exam grade.  Let me know if you have any questions.

You’ve been a great group – have a wonderful holiday break and best of luck in the new year!

Prof. Reitz

 

Want a paid position blogging for the OpenLab?

Announcements, ,

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to make you aware of some paid positions that are available writing for the OpenLab.  I know from reading your OpenLab assignments this semester that many of you are great writers, with unique and interesting perspectives and lots to say.  You can get paid for doing just that!  Check out the link for application details, but heads up – the application is due DECEMBER 1st.

OpenLab blogger and photoblogger positions

Best,
Prof. Reitz

 

Great courses being offered in the Spring

Announcements, , , , , ,

Hi everyone,

The following courses are being offered next semester in the Math Ed program –  they are great courses, and the work you are doing in this class is excellent preparation for each of them.  If they fit your schedule, I highly recommend them (one or more!).  If you feel ready to take one but don’t satisfy all the prerequisites, come talk to me (or Prof. Douglas, adouglas@citytech.cuny.edu, head of the Math Ed program).

MAT 3075 Real Analysis
MAT 3050 Geometry I
MAT 3080 Modern Algebra

Best,
Prof. Reitz

Upcoming Math Club Talks

Announcements, ,

Hi everyone,

The Math Club meets almost every Thursday during club hours (12:45 – 2:00) in Room N719.  They have free pizza and cool talks about Math – fun, interesting and inspiring, and the topics should be accessible to all of you.  You don’t have to be a member to attend – just show up!  I wanted to call out two upcoming talks especially:

This Week (Thurs 10/23): 
Jonathan Ginsberg, Basic Concepts in Hyperbolic Geometry
If you are currently taking or plan to take Geometry I/Geometry II, check this out!

Next Week (Thurs 10/30):
Andrew Douglas, Proofs Without Words
This is a perfect talk for you guys – amazing examples of proofs that involve ONLY pictures.  I strongly encourage you all to attend!

Here’s the Math Club site, with additional talks and info:

https://sites.google.com/site/nycctmathclub/home

Best,
Prof. Reitz

OpenLab #5 Survey Results

Announcements, OpenLab Assignments, , ,

Thanks to everyone for completing the survey.  I want to share the results and make some observations.

QUESTIONS 1-9, RATE THE HELPFULNESS OF VARIOUS ACTIVITIES.

Data. I converted the ratings into a numerical scale from 4 = Extremely Helpful to 0 = Not At All Helpful.  I calculated the average “helpfulness rating” for each question – the results are presented below, with the questions listed in order according to their rating.

Question HELPFULNESS RATING 0-4
(Extremely Helpful = 4,
Not at all = 0,
Don’t Know = not counted)
Lecture 3.8
Professor answering questions in class 3.8
Email contact with Professor 3.7
WeBWorK assignments 3.6
Group Work in class 3.4
Office Hours 3.1
Working with peers (friends, classmates, other students) outside of class. 3.1
OpenLab Assignments 2.8
Tutoring at CityTech 2.7

Observations.  First, it’s interesting to see that the top two items are about me talking to you in the room.  I am curious to see if this shifts over the rest of the semester as a) the course becomes more challenging, and b) you have more opportunity to work with one another.  We’ll see!   The relatively low helpfulness rating for OpenLab assignments is not too surprising, as these are designed to supplement and contextualize the course content rather than contribute to it directly – however, I will put some thought into changes that might be made here (you will find, for example, that a number of the future OpenLab assignments will directly support completion of your class project).  I will also put some thought towards the timing of office hours, as I know the current schedule conflicts with other courses.

QUESTION 10, WHAT COULD BE DONE TO IMPROVE YOUR EXPERIENCE OF THE COURSE.

This question was short answer, but most of the responses fell into just a few different categories, summarized here.

Top Categories Number of responses
I’m happy with the class as it is 7
More advanced examples in class 2
More group work/more problem solving in class 2
Other 3

Observations. The biggest news here is that most of you are pretty satisfied with the class so far.  That’s great!  But don’t get complacent, and don’t hesitate to give feedback or ask for help as the semester continues, especially as we begin to explore proofs in earnest.  I’ll take the comments regarding examples and group work on board as I’m planning future classes.

I plan to revisit this survey later in the semester, and I look forward to seeing how the responses compare.  If you have any questions, feel free to post them in a comment here or send me an email.

Best regards,
Prof. Reitz