1. What did I learn?
This week in math I learned a couple of interesting things. We did an activity where we measured a square with different objects (a coin, a cellphone, a ruler, and post-its) and then graphed the measurements. At first this kind of blew our minds because we've always been told that you have to have a standard unit of measurement when constructing a graph. We had a hard time just graphing the numbers when we knew they all represented different things. In the end the graph represented a linear relationship between the numbers and we found out that this is because the relationships or ratios remain consistent no matter what you use to measure the square.
Another thing we learned about what was a great website called Wolfram/Alpha which is a computational engine that you can put an equation into and it will solve it and show the steps taken. It is a great resource that I can't wait to play around with.
2. What do I have questions about?/3. What are the implications for classroom practice?
I have plenty of questions about Wolfram/Alpha and the implications for it's use in classroom practice. Is it cheating if students use it to do their homework? I think it could be very useful but I also see a lot of ways it could be abused.
This week in math I learned a couple of interesting things. We did an activity where we measured a square with different objects (a coin, a cellphone, a ruler, and post-its) and then graphed the measurements. At first this kind of blew our minds because we've always been told that you have to have a standard unit of measurement when constructing a graph. We had a hard time just graphing the numbers when we knew they all represented different things. In the end the graph represented a linear relationship between the numbers and we found out that this is because the relationships or ratios remain consistent no matter what you use to measure the square.
Another thing we learned about what was a great website called Wolfram/Alpha which is a computational engine that you can put an equation into and it will solve it and show the steps taken. It is a great resource that I can't wait to play around with.
2. What do I have questions about?/3. What are the implications for classroom practice?
I have plenty of questions about Wolfram/Alpha and the implications for it's use in classroom practice. Is it cheating if students use it to do their homework? I think it could be very useful but I also see a lot of ways it could be abused.
I don't consider it cheating. More than once, especially when tutoring Calculus (I am rusty in that) I have used it to confirm answers or even to see the steps and then worked backwards to figure out how to do it. Then I worked similar problems on my own until I could get it. Thus I taught myself the concept.
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