I have truly mixed feelings about group work. In general, people learn more and get more done when collaborating with colleagues (or fellow students) than when they try to go it alone. And working with others is unquestionably a valuable… Read More ›
Month: September 2013
The Child’s Child
There’s no such thing as a bad book by Ruth Rendell. The Child’s Child, written under Rendell’s Barbara Vine pseudonym, must therefore be a good book. It’s the only possible logical deduction. Is The Child’s Child a mystery novel? Not really…. Read More ›
“Geometry is the glue between statistics and computer science.”
A provocative quotation: “Geometry is the glue between statistics and computer science.” Say what? Well, that’s what Michael Jordan claims. No, not that Michael Jordan. This one is a computer scientist from UC Berkeley. But what on earth does his… Read More ›
The four pillars of high-school mathematics
What do we teach in high-school math? If we look at the big picture —not at specific topics in specific courses — what do we teach? Numbers? Formulas? Algorithms? Taking standardized tests? All of the above? None of the above? There’s… Read More ›
The Last Samurai
What a fascinating story! There are several books by this title, but I’m talking about the first novel by Helen DeWitt, published in the year 2000. If you know me, you won’t wonder which half of the story I liked… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 