Math 248 Writing Assignment #9


  • This course, math 248, is a new course for the math department. This assignment is about writting a critical review and the current course is the object of study. You are to write a several page paper on the writting of mathematics and the process of teaching about the writting of mathematics. Some topics your paper may address include:


  • Proofs What constitutes a proof? How does the intended audience change the level of details, definitions and notation? To what extent does this course address proof writting and what are some SPECIFIC suggestions you might make to improve this aspect of the course?


  • Peer Review Mathematics, both at the research and expository levels, depends a great extent upon peer reviews. What role did peer reviews have upon your work this semester. Can you give explicit examples of how it was helpful to your work? How would you suggest this aspect of the course be improved?


  • Groupwork Like many sciences, mathematics has become more collaborative with many projects involving several mathematicians at one time. Did the process of working in groups aid you in communicating mathematics with your peers? Sometimes it is difficult to anticipate what will be confusing to someone else or how to articulate an idea in more than one way. Did you find working in groups to help you improve your oral skills in mathematics? What would you suggest to improve this aspect of the course and these areas for students in general?


  • Homework One of the primary objectives of this course is to expose the students to a large scope of proof writing techniques and methods. To what extent do you feel this course was successful and how would you suggest to improve it? Did you feel that the course was effective at improving your skills and comfort with writting proofs? Please try to be specific.


  • Lectures To what extent did you find lectures to be helpful with the material? How would you suggest that this aspect of the course be improved? Sometimes this course is taught entirely by lectures and others entirely via groupwork. Would a different balance of these teaching methods been more effective for you?


  • Your course If you were to design a course to teach writting skills and basic proof methods, how would you do it? What type of text and material would you use? For example, some schools use Euclid's "Elements" and classical geometry throughout the semester to accomplish these goals. Do you think it is useful to have such a course at all in a mathematics program?


  • Paper style You are NOT to write an ICES form paper. This is to be a PAPER. It should interesting to a fairly general mathematical audience with an introduction and conclusion. It is not to have seperate headings addressing the questions above--the questions should be answered in the narrative smoothly without the explicit questions being asked. Explicit examples will generally receive higher marks then vague generalities filled with empty adjectives. If one or two points are of particular importance to you then please focus your paper there. Think of the above items as suggestions to get you started but by no means limiting or exhaustive.

    Some ways you may choose to write this paper would be as a funding final report or newspaper article. Perhaps you can write it as someone asking for monies to teach the course in a new and better way---and hence the need to give explicit ways you would improve the course and why you feel they would do so. You could also write it as advice to future instructors and/or students. The topic is ``dry'', the goal is to make it informative, useful and yet still interesting enough that someone might read it even if they are not required to do so---sort of like the problem a textbook writer faces in each section.