Office: 4-112 Mathematics Building
Phone: (631)-632-8274
Dept. Phone: (631)-632-8290
FAX: (631)-632-7631
Homepage
Mondays from 2:00p, to 3:20 in room 4-130 in the Math Tower. In general, the whole class will usually meet as group on Mondays, and I will be available for individuals or smaller groups on Wednesdays in my office. I will announce specific plans in class and on this webpage (see schedule below).
I will try to visit everyones class a couple of times, including early in the semester. These visits may not last for the whole class. We will try to video each class at least once. This is a schedule of the recitations of people enrolled in MAT 598 or 475. Let me know about any changes not shown here. This might be useful if you every need to find someone to cover a class for you. Here is a checklist of items we watch for during class visits.
This course is graded as satisfactory/unsatisfactory, determined by attendance and participation.
If you are assigned to a recitation, touch base with the instructor you are working with to find out what you are expected to do. Make an arrangement to meet with the instructor (monthly, at least) to compare notes on students' progress. Find out when the lectures are and attend at least once during the first week, and from time to time afterwards.
If your recitation is scheduled before the first lecture, meet with the class; tell them your name and how to contact you by email; tell them your office hours. This information may need to be repeated at the second meeting. Ask them if they have any questions about the course. (You should know what the textbook is and you should have had a look at the syllabus). You might circulate a sign-up sheet and read it off to get a first pass at learning your students' names. Alternatively, you could bring a picture roster from Solar, although this might not be up-to-date during the first week or two.
Be on time; end on time. Make sure you know how to find the room ahead of the first meeting. Being on time includes meeting offices hours on time.
When setting office hours make sure to avoid overlapping the lecture times for your course. If possible, minimize overlaps with other office hours from same course.
Most questions about grading policy and curves (beyond what is on the posted syllabus) should be directed to the lecturers or course coordinator. Its OK to say that you have to check with the course coordinator and will answer the question next time. TAs are there to answer questions about math, not class policies.
Know how to access Brightspace and the class webpage. If you have time, you might demonstrate this with the classroom computer (at least for the webpage; students should probably not see the instructor view of Brightspace which may contain private information like ID numbers). If you course uses Gradescope for homework or exams, make sure you know how to access it and can explain to students.
Remember your students are students, not mathematicians (some may become mathematicians, but we teach to the whole class, most of whom will not).
First impressions count. Be prepared with a positive attitude and knowledge about the course content and administration (provided by your lecturer or course coordinator).
Be sure you can do the homework problems. After an exam, make sure you can do all the problems, so as to answer any math questions. The lecturers and course coordinator will generally deal with questions about how things were graded.
If you suspect cheating discuss it with the course coordinatior. Do not submit to academic judiciary without consulting them first. We much prefer take various measures to prevent cheating in the first place (spaceing students in class room, multiple versions of exam,...)..
Tony Philip's checklist. Look at this before heading to class.
First day of class advice from Vanderbilt University.
Stony Brook 25Live (classroom information)
Stony Brook Fall 2024 academic calendar
Stony Brook final exam calendar
Chalking it up advice for new TAs by Bruce Reznick.
Teaching First by Thomas Rishel.
MAA Instructional Practices Guide
The art of teaching by Gilbert Highet, 1958. Link to Amazon page for this book.
Keys to improved instruction by teaching assistants and part-time instructors edited by Bettye Anne Case, MAA notes no 11, 1989.
The effects of implementing recitation activities on success rates in a college calculus course by Jeffrey X. Watt, Charles R. Feldhaus, Brandon H. Sorge, Grant A. Fore, Andrew D. Gavrin, and Kathleen A. Marrs, Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, Vol. 14, No. 4, October 2014, pp. 1 -17
Insights and Recommendations from the MAA National Study of College Calculus Edited by David Bressoud, Vilma Mesa, Chris Rasmussen, MAA 2015.
Insights and Recommendations from the MAA National Study of College Calculus By David Bressoud.
Addressing Challenges to the Precalculus to Calculus II Sequence through Case Studies by David Bressoud, Imene Ghedamsi, Victor Martinez-Luaces and Gunter Torner.
From the Association for Psychological Science (More aimed at professors than TAs.)
CBMS, Issues in Mathematics Education, Volume 10, Solomon Friedberg et. al. Introduction, Case 1, Case 2, Case 3, Case 4, Case 5, Case 6, Case 7, Case 8, Case 9, Case 10, Case 11, Case 12, Case 13, Case 14,
What Could They Possibly Be Thinking!?! Understanding your college math students Dave Kung and Natasha Speer, MAA Notes 90, 2020.
Learning to Teach and Teaching to Learn Mathematics Resources for Professional Development by Matt DeLong Dale Winter, MAA Notes 57, 2002.
Addressing Challenges to the Precalculus to Calculus II Sequence through Case Studies by David Bressoud, Imene Ghedamsi, Victor Martinez-Luaces and Gunter Torner.
Addressing Challenges to the Precalculus to Calculus II Sequence through Case Studies Edited by Estrella Johnson, Naneh Apkarian, Kren Vroom, Antonio Martinez, Chris Rasmussen, and David Bressoud. MAA Note 92.
Using the Philosophy of Mathematics in Teaching Undergraduate Mathematics Edited by Bonnie Gold, Carl E. Behrens and Roger A. Simons. MAA Notes 86, 2017.
The Courses of History Ideas for Developing a History of Mathematics Course Edited by Amy Shell-Gellasch and Dick Jardine, MAA Notes 87, 2018.
The Moore Method A Pathway to Learner-Centered Instruction Charles A. Coppin, W. Ted Mahavier, E. Lee May, G. Edgar Parker and James Ma. MAA Notes 75, 2009.
Review of "Teaching First: A guide for new mathematicians" by Thomas Rishel; review by Solomon Friedberg
How to teach mathematics by Steven Krantz, 3rd edition, AMS, 2015. The math department owns several copies of this; they are located in the P-143 office. Only a few sections deal with TAs, but everything here will be useful to you someday. Some quick excerpts: Some guiding principles, Basic classroom technique, Large lectures and beging a TA, Bibliography.
Some responses to Krantz's book (positive and negative) are posted in the following link. Appendices to 'How to teach mathematics' 12 essays by various mathematicians responding to Krantz's book.
A Mathematician’s Survival Guide: Graduate School and Early Career Development by Steven Krantz, 2003.
The Survival of a Mathematician: From Tenure to Emeritus by Steven G. Krantz, 2007.
Secrets of my success , by Thomas Banchoff, Focus MAA, 1996, 26-28.
Mathematics education by William Thurston, 2005 arXiv, originally published in Notices of the AMS 37 (1990), 844-850.
Proof and Porgress in Mathematics , by William Thurston. Littlewood's Miscellany ,Calculus Reform - for the millions by David Mumford, Notices of the AMS, vol 44, no 5,May 1997.
Calculus Reform—For the $Millions David Klein and Jerry Rosen, Notices of the AMS, vol 44, no 10, Nov 1997.
MOOCs and the Future of Mathematics by Robert Ghrist, Notices of AMS, 60(2013), page 1277.
Teaching mathematics to non-mathematicians Valdimir Rokhlin, 1981.
Chalking it up: advice to a new TA by Bruce Resnick, University of Illinois, 1999
Trigonometry for adults by Tony Philips, Nov. 2014.
Mathematical Biographies maintained by St Andrews University.
Half a Minute: Predicting Teacher Evaluations From Thin Slices of Nonverbal Behavior and Physical Attractiveness , by Nalini Ambady and Robert Rosenthal, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1993, Vol. 64, No. 3, 431-441. This oft quoted study showed that student evaluations after viewing a 30 second video clip of an instructor (no sound), correlated well with evaluations by students who took a semester long course with the instructor.
Toward a lean and lively calculus , edited by R. Douglas, 1986. Douglas was a professor at Stony Brook, and his report help start the "Calculus Reform" movement.
Remembering Ed Dubinsky and his Visionary Work , by Annie Selden1 and Draga Vidakovic. List ofDubinksy's publications.
Mon Aug 26: Basics, What to do the first day. Read Krantz's "Guiding principles" and
"Basic techique" excerpts. Read pages 3-12 and 43-46 in Rishel's "Teaching First".
All this is posted above.
Wed Aug 28: No meeting
Mon Sept 2: No class, Labor Day
Wed Sept 4: no meeting
Mon Sept 9: Review of first two weeks, grading, making up a rubric. Read the advice posted by
Bruce Reznick above.
Wed Sept 11: no meeting
Mon Sept 16: Midterms, finals, cheating, academic judiciary
Wed Sept 18: no meeting
Mon Sept 23: A case study from "Teaching mathematics in colleges and universities". Topic TBA.
Wed Sept 25: no meeting
Mon Sept 30:
Wed Oct 2:
Mon Oct 7:
Wed Oct 9:
Mon Oct 14: No class, Fall break
Wed Oct 16:
Mon Oct 21:
Wed Oct 23:
Mon Oct 28:
Wed Oct 30:
Mon Nov 4:
Wed Nov 6:
Mon Nov 11:
Wed Nov 13:
Mon Nov 18:
Wed Nov 20:
Mon Nov 25:
Wed Nov 27: No class, Thanksgivng break
Mon Dec 2:
Wed Dec 4:
Mon Dec 9: Last class day
The not too short introduction to LaTex
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