Math Confidence Newsletter
Volume 33
February 2012
In This Issue
Math Confidence Video
Recommended Reading
Math Confidence Philosophy 3
Division by Zero Part I
Brain Teaser
    Math Confidence Video
Division by Zero Part I.MOD
Division by Zero Part I.MOD
 
Math Confidence Audio
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Quote of the Month
"Black holes are where God divided by zero"
This month's Recommended Reading by neuroscientist David Sousa is part of a series called How the Brain Learns.  The third installment of the Math Confidence Philosophy is Teaching Methodology. The Math topic is undefined -- what happens when you divide by zero?  On February 14, Robin will present "Get Smart! Take the SAT!" at the Association of Math Teachers of New Jersey Winter Conference.
Recommended Reading 
David Sousa
How do people learn Math and how can we help students to be successful?  Sousa points out that the adage "Practice makes perfect" is better put as "Practice makes permanent".  Sousa talks about finding the sweet spot of challenge to keep students engaged and learning.  One of his key suggestions is not to review homework first because the brain is best suited for new ideas at the beginning of a lesson.  He recommends chunking block periods into smaller time slots and providing a variety of learning modalities such as lecture, group work, independent work, tests, and other activities. The chapter on Math Difficulties cites a study that found more than 60% of adults have Math anxiety.
The Math Confidence Philosophy Part III

The Math Confidence Methodology is installment 3 of The Math Confidence Philosophy.  More information is available on Google Docs:

Part III:  The Math Confidence Methodology
9. Questioning and Responding: Is That Your Final Answer?
10. Content Exposure: You Have to See It to Know It 
11. Troubleshooting: Fuzzy Errors vs Misconceptions
12. Math Confidence in the Classroom 
Division by Zero Part I

Ask a group of people "How much is 12 divided by zero?" and you may get conflicting answers.  Try it on your cell phone's calculator or on an actual calculator. If we use 12 as the numerator and keep decreasing the denominator the answer will get larger.  The closest answer seems to be "infinity" but it is really positive and negative infinity at the same time -- this is called "undefined".  

Division by Zero on Wikipedia 

Division by Zero Discussion on Math Forum 

Division by Zero on MathIsFun 

Division of 0/0 in Calculus 
Brain Teaser 
Numbers thru FunnelFind three-digit numbers that the number itself, its double and its triple contain each digit from 1 to 9 exactly once. For example, 192 works because 192, 384, 576 contain 1 to 9 each once. 273 also works because 273, 546, 819 contain 1 to 9 each once.
What are the other two numbers that also have this property?

 

Answer to January's Brain Teaser: 

January 2012 Brain Teaser Solution 

Thanks for reading!  How can we make this newsletter better?  Please send comments and suggestions to Robin mathconfidence@aol.com 
Sincerely,

 

Robin "the Math Lady" Schwartz
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