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Questions tagged [algebra]

Algebra is the part of mathematics in which letters and other general symbols are used to represent numbers and quantities in formulae and equations.

2 votes
0 answers
82 views

How best to remediate algebra students as a tutor?

I'm a tutor for math and math SAT/ACT. Sometimes, I get a student who has failed or never even seen algebra before. Right now, I have a homeschooled kid who is supposed to be an 11th grader and is ...
Marc Scotto's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
150 views

Role of the history of the subject in teaching abstract algebra?

The evolution of a subject often, though not always, affects the order or style in which topics are typically presented. I was wondering if it is the case with abstract algebra. There are books such ...
F. A. Mala's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
157 views

Teaching Advanced PreCalculus

So long story short, I am currently teaching PreCalculus. I teach along the line of Stitz & Zeager, with some minor omission as well as addition by myself. When I teach, I aim at writing exam ...
Hai-Trieu Nguyen's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
205 views

Teaching how to use multiple equations to find relationships without concrete numbers

I recently tutored physics to a high school student who had a math-related issue. She was fine with problems that had numbers in them, e.g. plugging time and velocity into a kinematics equation to ...
bobble's user avatar
  • 471
3 votes
10 answers
560 views

Good ways to help students overcome the mistake that $ 2a - 3b + 7a + 4b = -5a + 7b$

I often encounter students who incorrectly think that $ 2a - 3b + 7a + 4b = -5a + 7b,$ rather than $9a + b,$ due to the misapprehension that $$ 2a - 3b + 7a + 4b = \color{red}{2a -}\ \color{lightblue}{...
Adam Rubinson's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
87 views

Difference between pre-algebra and early algebra in primary school teacher education

The context here is a course for primary school teachers who want to get a qualification for teaching mathematics. "Algebra" does not therefore mean university level or proof-based algebra. ...
Tommi's user avatar
  • 8,942
4 votes
3 answers
250 views

How is the "simplest form" defined in the case of complex trig expressions?

So, I do a lot of complex trig. Some of it I do by hand, and some with WA, but almost uniformly, WA ends up with a different form of the final expression than I do, and I need to do an "equals&...
jackisquizzical's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

When learning about algebra and geometry, should I read roughly or try to understand every sentence?

I am a new graduate student majoring in pure mathematics. In past four years, I was interested in analysis, especially complex analysis. Now I think what attract me most are topics about algebra and ...
Springer theory's user avatar
-3 votes
1 answer
316 views

Throwing Expressions: The Under-Taught Art of Algebraic Sculpting

I've come to realize, in my dotage after a whole career carrying out utilitarian algebra and calculus, there there is a specific algebraic skill that they never specifically teach you, that turns out ...
jackisquizzical's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
90 views

solutions to Hung-Hsi Wu's Teaching School Mathematics: Prealgebra/Algebra textbooks?

I am currently home-schooling my kids and picking up the math subjects that have long been neglected by me. I have been looking for solutions to Hung-Hsi Wu's <Teaching School Mathematics: ...
incredible_journey's user avatar
8 votes
12 answers
4k views

Best way to explain the thinking steps from x² = 9 to x=±3

I'm writing four young adult novels with math at the center. The first one is about complex numbers. I'd like to know what good teachers think of the implied pedagogy in the following conversation ...
Sue VanHattum's user avatar
  • 21.7k
23 votes
6 answers
8k views

What skills do algebra teachers wish their students had mastered before taking algebra?

I am designing 10 hour weekly summer math learning opportunities for students taking algebra next school year. I would like to know from algebra teachers what skills they wish their students had ...
Thomas McLoughlin's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
202 views

Usage of cubic equation Vieta's formula

I explained to my kid Vieta's formula of quadratic equation and showed that it can be used to solve quadratic equation (from $x_1+x_2$ and $x_1x_2$ to get $x_1-x_2$) and cubic equation (Cardano's ...
athos's user avatar
  • 857
2 votes
0 answers
71 views

Math textbook for secondary school using Logo like language

What math textbooks for kids do you know that use Logo or similar languages with visual robots like Turtle (in "The Turtle Geometry") that demonstrate space motions, transformations of all ...
paus's user avatar
  • 83
1 vote
1 answer
119 views

Math textbook for secondary school using Logo like syntax

What math textbooks for kids do you know that use Logo or similar languages with visual robots like Turtle (in "The Turtle Geometry") that demonstrate space motions, transformations of all ...
paus's user avatar
  • 83

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