Ian Short

TED is a group in the USA which organises lectures. Here’s a TED lecture about teaching maths: Dan Meyer.

Dan argues that you should ask practical maths questions in a bare form. For example, you could ask, “You chuck a 1kg rock upwards at 2 metres per second; how high does it go?” Dan suggests instead “How high does a rock travel if you chuck it upwards?” Then the student has to realise what are the important quantities needed to answer the problem. Makes the problem deeper and more attractive.

There’s something in this. Probably doesn’t apply as much to pure maths problems.

Other TED talks I like: Hans Rosling and Chris Jordan.