从历史角度讲大学数学

将数学史与数学教学有机结合起来的新的教学方法有助于学生更加深刻地理解和掌握大学数学的基本理论与方法.在大学数学教学中运用数学史的教学方法的特点和具体做法有:用重要的问题组织教学和给出学习的动机,而不是作为点缀;历史方法所涉及的历史只能是粗线条的简化的历史;用具体简单的素材引出新内容,用数学的应用揭示理论的内涵.历史方法的局限与应注意的问题有:防止空泛谈论历史,应加强与相关课程的联系,不能忽视基本知识点的教学.     

Using Real Life Examples to Teach Abstract Statistical Concepts

This article provides real life examples that can be used to explain statistical concepts. It does not attempt to be exhaustive, but rather, provide a few examples for selected concepts based on what students should know after taking a statistics course.     

Using History to Teach Mathematics: The Case of Logarithms

Many authors have discussed the question why we should use the history of mathematics to mathematics education. For example, Fauvel (For Learn Math, 11(2): 3–6, 1991) mentions at least fifteen arguments for applying the history of mathematics in teaching and learning mathematics. Knowing how to introduce history into mathematics lessons is a more difficult step. We found, however, that only a limited number of articles contain instructions on how to use the material, as opposed to numerous general articles suggesting the use of the history of mathematics as a didactical tool. The present article focuses on converting the history of logarithms into material appropriate for teaching students of 11th grade, without any knowledge of calculus. History uncovers that logarithms were invented prior of the exponential function and shows that the logarithms are not an arbitrary product, as is the case when we leap straight in the definition given in all modern textbooks, but they are a response to a problem. We describe step by step the historical evolution of the concept, in a way appropriate for use in class, until the definition of the logarithm as area under the hyperbola. Next, we present the formal development of the theory and define the exponential function. The teaching sequence has been successfully undertaken in two high school classrooms.     

Using PowerPoint Animations to Teach Operations Management Techniques and Concepts

This article examines the value of using complex animated PowerPoint presentations to teach operations management techniques and concepts. To provide context, literature covering the use of PowerPoint animations in business education is briefly reviewed. The specific animations employed in this study are identified and their expected benefits to students and faculty are discussed. Evidence of their perceived value to students and faculty is then presented.     

Using Parallel Merge Sort to Teach Fundamental Concepts in Distributed Parallelism

This paper describes how the algorithm called parallel merge sort can be used to teach fundamental concepts in the design of parallel algorithms for a network of workstations (NOW). First, the basic algorithm is introduced and its performance studied. Then, through a series of improvements based on a close examination of the algorithm and the underlying communication network, students are shown how performance can be significantly enhanced. This incremental approach lets students observe, first-hand, the critical importance of communication overhead, granularity, latency, and load balancing in designing efficient distributed parallel algorithms for a NOW environment.     

News: Galileo and Einstein: Using History to Teach Basic Physics to Nonscientists

Science &; Education -     

Using History to Teach Invention and Design: The Case of the Telephone

This paper shows how a historical case, the invention of the telephone, can be used to teach invention and design in a way that combines engineering, social sciences, and humanities. The historical problem of transmitting speech was turned into an active learning module, in which students sought to improve patents obtained by early telephone inventors like Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray, using equipment similar to what was available at the time. The result was a collaborative learning environment in which students from a wide range of majors worked in teams, eventually producing a patent application. As part of the project, they were allowed to search historical materials like the Bell notebooks, which were made available on line. This experience gave them a better understanding of the invention and design process.     

运用地方文物资源开设历史选修课的探索

中学历史选修课是在学生学好必修课、限定选修课的基础上，为拓宽与历史学科有关的专业知识而设置的课程，它对于全面推行素质教育起了积极的作用。1997年山西省普通中学新课程领导小组，制定了开发地方校本选修教材的一系列措施。经过积极探索，我校在开设地方史选修课方面取得了较好的教学效果。     

Service-Learning Projects in an Undergraduate Gerontology Course: A Six-Stage Model and Application

Service-learning opportunities are prominent on many college campuses. The process of designing and implementing service-learning experiences, especially for students of gerontology, however, has rarely been addressed. The current article briefly reviews the background and utility of service-learning in gerontology courses, describes our service-learning project, outlines a general six-stage model for developing service-learning projects in gerontology courses, and describes our process of integrating the service-learning project into an introductory gerontology course. Finally, we demonstrate that in conjunction with the promotion of evaluative practices, service-learning in the gerontology classroom presents a promising practice for creating healthier communities.     

False Echoes of the Past: Using Visual Art to Teach Critical Thinking about History

In this article, we explain how the Discipline-based Art Education Model (DBAE) represents an instructional tool to disturb teacher candidates and elementary students' commonly held notions of US history, motivate research into historical events, and revise understandings of historical topics so that they begin seeing how the past has shaped the present social environment. We describe a social studies methods course assignment that requires candidates' exploration of common history myths and development of lessons about accurate historical information. Finally, we provide two examples of lessons developed through the assignment to teach revisionist historical accounts using the DBAE.     

Using Theater to Teach History in an English Class: An Experiment in Arts Integration

Theater and history meet in a big improvisation that sparks empathetic learning in a Shakespeare-focused residency.     

Using Portfolios to Teach Teachers About Assessment: How to Survive

In this article I respond to a call for inquiry into the teaching process using one's own teaching as the object of inquiry. A focus on the dilemmas faced by an individual teacher acknowledges that teaching is, as Wineburg (1991) put it 'a complex activity fraught with pitfalls, problems, setbacks, failures, errors and disappointments' (p.278). Single cases have value if they contain elements that can be generalized beyond the specific personalities and contexts of the given situation. In this article I describe the evolution of a portfolio-based assessment course in a traditional teacher education program. I describe the elements of the course, the aims of instruction, and the potential power of portfolios and authentic performances to enhance student learning. I also describe the problems that may arise from the use of portfolio and performance-based assessments. The various adjustments made during a 3-year period to make the course workable for both students and the instructor are described as an evolutionary process. The problems and their solutions can be generalized beyond the given assessment course and show the kinds of decisions teachers must make for their students and for themselves when using portfolios in teaching.     

Streaming Scholarship: Using Fan Vids to Teach Harry Potter

This article argues that Harry Potter fan vids can be used in the classroom as works of secondary criticism about J. K. Rowling’s primary text. It makes two claims: the first is that vids can be read as criticism of a particular text (in this case Harry Potter) alongside other critical essays on that text; the second is that the practice of doing so, for teachers of literature in general, and children’s literature in particular, is a valid one. The article first provides readings of four vids, showing how each can be used to complement traditional scholarly sources as interpretations of the text; and then situates issues arising from the pedagogical possibilities of vids within the larger field of fandom studies.