Blog – Page 19 – Mathemafrica

On the place of struggle within Mathematics – how to truly get rid of distractions

I have had a lot of conversations with students over the last couple of weeks which made me want to write this post. I apologise in advance that it will be rather long.

It’s also important to state that this message doesn’t hold for everyone, but it is worth seriously thinking about.

Many students recently have asked me about how to go through tutorials, and how to revise. They are finding that while they are sitting down for a long time with their tutorials, the tests still feel really hard.

To an important extent, technologies have changed the way we think and act over the last couple of decades. In many ways, things were easier in my day when we didn’t have so many technological distractions. Cellphones were rare when I was a student and smartphones were still over a decade away! There was no Facebook, or Youtube, or Instagram.…

By Jonathan Shock| June 16th, 2017|Uncategorized|14 Comments

Lecturer/Senior lecturer position available in the UCT department of Maths and Applied Maths

The Department of Maths and Applied Maths at UCT has a position open at the level of lecturer or senior lecturer. The advert can be found here:

SCI_17099_L_SL_MAM

Applications in all areas of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics will be considered.

Minimum requirements include:

For the level of Lecturer:

A PhD (at the time of appointment) in Mathematics or Applied Mathematics or related areas.
A record of research outputs.
Postdoctoral and some teaching experience would be advantageous”
For the level of Senior Lecturer:

A PhD in Mathematics or Applied Mathematics
An established track record of published research outputs.
Demonstrable teaching experience.
A record of postgraduate student supervision.
Responsibilities include:

Teaching and developing undergraduate and postgraduate courses offered by the department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics.
Developing and pursuing an active research program, which includes student supervision.
Course convening, departmental and faculty administrative duties.
The annual remuneration package for 2017, including benefits are:
Lecturer R592,451
Senior Lecturer R728,442
To apply, please e-mail the documents listed below in a single pdf file to Ms Vathiswa Mbangi at recruitment04@uct.ac.za

– UCT Application Form (download at http://forms.uct.ac.za/hr201.doc)
– Cover letter, and
– Curriculum Vitae (CV)
– Teaching and Research statement
An application which does not comply with the above requirements will be regarded as incomplete.

…

By Jonathan Shock| June 5th, 2017|Advertising, Job advert|0 Comments

Numeric Teaching Fellowships – Applications Now Open – Please Share!

Enjoy teaching?

Passionate about Maths?

Want to earn your teaching qualification?

Apply for a Teaching Fellowship with the

Numeric Teaching Academy!

The Numeric Teaching Academy (NTA) provides Teaching Fellowships for university graduates to train to become maths teachers. This one-year program consists of three main components: the post-graduate certification in education (PGCE) through UNISA (distance learning); content, practical and classroom management workshops at the Academy; and a teaching internship at one of Numeric’s afterschool programs in Khayelitsha, Mfuleni or Mitchells Plain.

Teaching Fellowships are fully funded and cover the cost of tuition, textbooks, a laptop, and a monthly living stipend.

It is an intensive, yet rewarding program in which you will learn much about mathematics, teaching, and yourself. Students who apply and are accepted join a vibrant and friendly community of people who are passionate about maths education and who believe that education is the most powerful driver of change in society.

…

By Numeric| May 31st, 2017|Advertising, News|0 Comments

FYE Conference 2017 – Claire Blackman: Modelling learning, unlearning and relearning in large classes

Modelling learning, unlearning and relearning in large classes

Claire Blackman, Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, UCT

Presentation at the SANRC First Year Experience (FYE) conference, Johannesburg 24- – 26 May 2017

Context: Claire teachers first year commerce students who do not necessarily want to do maths.

Alvin Toffler quote: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

Change is a way of life but adapting to change is hard and people are not very good at it. We have to learn how to learn and relearn and unlearn.

How I teach is more important than the content.

The world needs people who own and learn from their mistakes and think before responding.

Two useful models:

Krathwohl’s taxonomy (published by Bloom) for thinking about the individual
Group therapy to get students in an emotional comfortable space

Krathwohl’s taxonomy of the affective domain can help to see if students are learning

https://za.pinterest.com/source/dynamicflight.com

Living (Integrating values into life)
Organising
Valuing
Responding
Receiving

A group analytic framework

Environment (psychological structure, class boundaries)
- Students and teachers need to feel safe
Process (how is the class run)
Content
- Maths
- Tools for dealing with fear and uncertainty e.g.

…

By Anita Campbell| May 30th, 2017|Uncategorized|1 Comment

Digital Storytelling

From Health Professional to Film Producer in One Easy Workshop: Creating Digital Stories

Penny Gill, CPUT

Presentation at the SANRC First Year Experience (FYE) conference, J0hannesburg 24 – 26 May 2017

A digital story is

– a short, first person multi-media video narrative that documents human life experiences ideas or feelings through story-telling.

– an exciting way to captivate students, amplifies student voice, encourages critical thinking, can give access to a global audience.

To get students to make a digital story:

– obtain ethical approval

– Use a computer literacy questionnaire and offer support if needed

– Consider copyright and confidentiality

– Obtain permission from students to use videos in conferences and presentations

– Students write a 500 word story

– The video must be 4-6 minutes or less

– Brainstorm ideas to fit purpose and audience – mindmaps/community maps can help

– 30-40% of time is thinking, planning and synthesising (organising)

– Plan sequence of story using a storyboard: pictures with words/music saying what this

scene must achieve.…

By Anita Campbell| May 28th, 2017|Conference|0 Comments

Finding Fibonacci, by Keith Devlin – a review

This book was sent to me by the publisher as a review copy.

I have a terrible admission to make. I came to this book with a paltry knowledge of Fibonacci (Leonardo of Pisa). The knowledge that I thought that I had was quickly shown in fact to be incorrect, so I was largely starting with a blank slate (Fibonacci did not discover the Fibonacci sequence, nor would he be terribly happy to know that in the popular psyche, this is what he is famous for).

In fact, this book is not really about Fibonacci (Devlin has another book about him). This is a book about the writing of a book, and about Devlin’s process of uncovering the history and importance of what Fibonacci had accomplished. It is a book about the research of the history of mathematics, and as such, it is a lovely tale: one of fortuitous moments of discovery, and of frustrations of searching for manuscripts.…

By Jonathan Shock| April 28th, 2017|Uncategorized|1 Comment

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Proof by Contradiction

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Proof by Contradiction

The concept of proof by contradiction refers to taking a statement and assuming the opposite is true. When assuming the opposite is true we begin to further examine the our ‘opposite’ statement and reach to a conclusion which doesn’t add up or in simple terms is absurd.

Take the case:

Statement: There are infinite number of prime numbers.

Using the concept of proof by contradiction, we will assume the opposite is true.

If an integer (2) divides an integer (6) we say that 2 divides 6 or 2|6. In a more general sense we can say that if any integer ‘a’ divides any other integer ‘b’ then a|b.

Prime numbers: it is an integer (n ≥ 2) that has exactly two positive factors (1 and itself).

eg. 2, 3, 5 …

Composite numbers: it is an integer (n ≥ 2) that has more than two positive factors.

eg. 4, 6, 8 …

Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic: Every integer n ≥ 2 has a unique (exactly one) prime factorization.…

By Ace| April 17th, 2017|Uncategorized|0 Comments

The best writing on mathematics 2016, edited by Mircea Pitici – a review

This book was sent to me by the publisher as a review copy.

http://press.princeton.edu/images/j10953.gif

It is not easy to write a review for an anthology of writings, but I think that in such cases what is best discussed is the choice of writing and its range, both topically and in terms of level. In this case we have some 30 short essays, covering a huge range of topics, as well as a real breadth of complexity. I will highlight some of my particular favourites, though I should say from the outset that I really enjoyed reading just about everything in this book. There were perhaps two or three posts which didn’t resonate with me, but out of 30, that is pretty good, given my personal tastes.

The collection starts with a lovely essay discussing the interplay between the teaching, and the practice of mathematics, and in particular the role of rigour, formality and proof in these two somewhat separate directions.…

By Jonathan Shock| April 3rd, 2017|Book reviews, Reviews|1 Comment

Group Theory (lecture 2) by Robert de Mello Koch

As promised in the previous post, here is the second lecture by Prof Robert de Mello Koch on Group Theory.

Please comment if you have thoughts or questions from this video.…

By Jonathan Shock| February 8th, 2017|English|0 Comments

Group Theory (lecture 1) by Robert de Mello Koch

Some ten (and change) years ago, the African Summer Theory Institute (ASTI) took place in Cape Town at UCT. This was a course designed for students to give them a taste of a number of topics related to theoretical physics. These lectures were all recorded, and I watched them at the time, never of course thinking for a moment that I would end up lecturing in the same venue a decade or so later. In particular, I remembered that the lectures by Robert de Mello Koch on Group Theory were some of the most pedagogically clear that I had ever seen. Sadly, the old ASTI website seems to be defunct, but the lectures can all be found on YouTube.

I wanted to start posting some of them here and see if people seem enthusiastic about me posting more. It would be great to have some comments on this post to let me know if you would like more of these, or of course if you have any questions or comments about the material itself.…

By Jonathan Shock| January 19th, 2017|Uncategorized|4 Comments