Schultz, K. T. (2009). Soft drinks, mind reading, and number theory. Mathematics Teacher, 103(4), 278-283.
In this article, Schultz describes the experience he had giving his students an opportunity to experience proofs as more than just verification of what they already know. The students in his class were amazed by a mind reading game that used arithmetic of multiple digit numbers to correctly guess a selected number. Having figured out for himself the math behind the magic, Schultz used the curiosity of the students as an opportunity to teach them a different aspect of proofs, using them to find answers and gain understanding. With a little guidance the students were able to figure out the mind reading trick and then proceeded to prove the process to further understand the process. They learned what properly constitutes an accurate mathematical proof and the lesson demonstrated an example of the necessity of a proof naturally arising to gain understanding.
I agree that learning of proofs as a source to gain understanding is very important and useful. The students curiosity seemed to really motivate them to find the answer they were looking for. I am very impressed with Schultz ability to recognize a golden opportunity to get a confusing concept through to his students and to pull through.
Great post! Your paragraph was organized clearly, and you did a great job summarizing the article. I really feel like I understand what this article was about. I do however wonder what the mind game was exactly. Did the author describe what he did in the article? I think it may have been more effective to include the specific mind game, so that I would not have been so confused as to what the teacher did specifically with his class. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI thought this was great. I'm curious to read the article myself now. If I understand your description of what kind of number game they played then I believe I've done the same game and have noticed the intrigue that other people have about it, so I agree that this was a great opportunity to expand the mathematical understanding of his students.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore I thought that your description of the article was clear and concise as well as unbiased. So awesome job in all aspects.
I thought the first paragraph was very helpful to me in understanding the content of the article. You have a nice, clear topic sentence that identifies the main idea of the article. Your description of the activity he used in class was very helpful in understanding how he made proof relevant to his students.
ReplyDeleteI thought the topic sentence for the second paragraph was the first sentence. However, I did not feel that the rest of the paragraph supported or developed this idea. I also did not see at least three ideas that developed or supported your stance toward the main idea. I think that this paragraph could have been strengthened significantly by identifying ways that gaining understanding through proof is useful.
Your first paragraph was very clear and I understood what the article was about and how the author used activities to aid in teaching the importance of proofs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion in the second paragraph, you could have expanded in it, though.
Miss Abbey-
ReplyDeleteYou are so cute. I am so happy you have a blog. I am looking forward to getting together soon.
Sincerely,
Miss Amanda