Senior, Mathematics Education
Which post-calculus math courses have you taken? (Use names or BYU course numbers.)
Calculus II
Elementary Linear Algebra
Multivariable Calculus
Differential Equations
Math 290- Fundamentals of Mathematics
Abstract Algebra
Theory of Analysis I
Survey of Geometry
History of Mathematics (not that the class could really be counted as a math class per se,but we did do some math problems)
Physics 121- Principles of Physics I (from back when I was a Math major)
(aka, this is my last math class for the math education major)
Why are you taking this class? (Be specific.)
Because when I found out about this class when I was in Math 290, I decided that (if I had stayed a Math major) Cryptography would be something that I would be interested in pursuing as a career. I've always loved breaking the simple texts, etc. that they give you in grade school and Math 290 and I think learning to create well protected information and learn how to decrypt ciphered information will also be beneficial for future use if for some odd reason, I needed to send a secure(ish) message or needed to decrypt a random message (like if my kids think they are being so cool and smart by using a simple alphabet replacement technique to cipher letters, etc.). But really, I just think Cryptography is a super cool field... and this class is most likely not going to be as difficult for me as Number or Graph Theory (whichever is offered in the Fall semester) would have been for me, since I'm not that interested in those subjects, etc. And in this class I get to learn how to use a math solving software, which I haven't had the opportunity to do yet in my other classes.
Do you have experience with Maple, Mathematica, SAGE, or another computer algebra system? Programming experience? How comfortable are you with using one of these programs to complete homework assignments?
Wolframalpa is about all the experience I've got. No. I'll get comfortable, but I have no real experience, so we'll see. I'm excited to get to know how to use this software, though.
Tell me about the math professor or teacher you have had who was the most and/or least effective. What did s/he do that worked so well/poorly?
My best math professor/class that I've had so far is Brother Hendrickson's Task Design and Assess Understanding (MthEd 277), which you could say isn't very math-y, but we actually worked on a lot of mathematics in that class. He had us work in groups and would walk around the room and sit down with each group and ask them what they were doing and why they were doing that, etc. and if they were going in the wrong direction, he would guide the group to a more effective on task way of solving the problem. He also had very out-of-the-box methods of teaching. For Trig functions, he had us figure out the height of a Ferris Wheel using what we know about right triangle trig (in particular, the 30-60-90 and 45-45-90 triangles), etc. He had a set of tasks that built on each other where we essentially were playing around for a while until we saw some pattern or something and went for it and, in the process, unknowingly learned some mathematical principle. It was pretty awesome.
My least effective math teacher taught the... I don't know, Super Honors? section of 7th grade math (we were using the 8th grade math textbook, whereas the other "lower" honors and normal math classes were using the 7th grade textbook). My understanding is that she was only really qualified to teach elementary level math, but since mid-middle school isn't that far from elementary school math, they hired her (but maybe that was just a rumor). It got to the point to where she would have us split into groups and teach the class, and she really didn't have good classroom management skills. For example, one day a fellow classmate poured GermX in her coffee... she only found out about it because someone eventually told her,though she did notice that there was something floating in it, she just didn't know who did it. Moral of the story is, no one really liked her as a teacher, and what I learned in that class, I learned from the textbook and from doing homework... during class.
Write something interesting or unique about yourself.
I have Celiac Disease (yay! ...obviously that was drenched in sarcasm). I have an 11 month old daughter, and baby number two is on the way (due April 4th-ish). I'm from Columbia, Tennessee (an hour south of Nashville).
If you are unable to come to my scheduled office hours, what times would work for you?
Those times should work, but I'll have to bring Elsie with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment