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NSTA STEM Forum

Next week I’ll be in San Francisco for the 2019 STEM Forum and Expo, hosted by the National Science Teachers Association. This annual conference brings together thousands of educators from around the world to talk about STEM education, share resources, and discuss outreach strategies.

As part of my work as an NCTM / NSTA National STEM Teacher Ambassador, I’ll be participating in an opening panel on STEM teaching on Thursday, and a Share-a-Thon of classroom resources on Friday. I’ll also be presenting “STEM Up Math Class with Computing”, which relates to my work integrating computer science into math class.

You can learn more about the STEM Forum here, and see the full program of events here.

Related Posts

By MrHonner, ago

How Geometry, Data and Neighbors Predict Your Favorite Movies — Quanta Magazine

My latest column for Quanta Magazine makes a connection between high school geometry and recommendation engines used by companies like Netflix.

Adrienne is a Marvel movie fanatic: Her favorite films all involve the Hulk, Thor or Black Panther. Brandon prefers animated features like Inside Out, The Incredibles and anything with Buzz Lightyear. I like both kinds, although I’m probably closer to Adrienne than Brandon. And I might skew a little toward Cora, who loves thrillers like Get Out and The Shining.

Whose movie preferences are closest to yours: Adrienne’s, Brandon’s or Cora’s? And how far are your cinematic tastes from those of the other two? It might seem strange to ask “how far” here. That’s a question about distance, after all. What does distance mean when it comes to which movies you like? How would we measure it?

Using the perpendicular bisector–an elementary and underappreciated idea from high school geometry–we can carve up abstract data spaces into regions that can be fruitfully compared and contrasted. And knowing which region you lie in, and whom you are closest to, can help make predictions about your preferences.

To learn more, read the full article, which is freely available here.

By MrHonner, ago

Where Proof, Evidence, and Imagination Intersect — Quanta Magazine

My latest column for Quanta Magazine explores the role that evidence plays in mathematics, a field better known for its reliance on logical proof.

For example, do you know the next term in this sequence?

1, 2, 4, 8, 16

You might be surprised!

“Mathematics has a long history of defying expectations and forcing us to expand our imaginations. That’s one reason mathematicians strive for proof, not just evidence. It’s proof that establishes mathematical truth. All available evidence might point to 32 as the next number in our sequence, but without a proof, we can’t be certain.

Some simple examples involving high school math show how evidence can lead us toward proof in mathematics, but can also lead us astray if we aren’t careful. You can learn more by reading the article at Quanta Magazine, which is freely available here.

By MrHonner, ago

Critical Issues in Mathematics Education at MSRI

Next week I’m heading to the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI) in Berkeley, CA to participate in the 2019 Critical Issues in Mathematics Education (CIME) conference.

CIME brings together academics, researchers, industry partners, and teachers to discuss important issues in education. The theme of this year’s conference is mathematical modeling in K-16 education. Here’s a summary of the goals from the conference website.

The CIME workshop on MM will bring together mathematicians, teacher educators, K-12 teachers, faculty and people in STEM disciplines. As partners we can address ways to realize mathematical modeling in the K-12 classrooms, teacher preparation, and lower and upper division coursework at universities. The content and pedagogy associated with teaching mathematical modeling needs special attention due to the nature of modeling as a process and as a body of content knowledge.

I’m proud to be representing K-12 teachers as well as Math for America at this year’s CIME, where I will be presenting as part of the conference’s opening panel along with Jo Boaler, Ricardo Cortez, and Maria Hernandez.

A full schedule and list of speakers is available at the CIME conference website.

UPDATE: The full video of our panel discussion can be seen here.

By MrHonner, ago

Unscrambling the Hidden Secrets of Superpermutations — Quanta Magazine

My latest column for Quanta Magazine brings the exciting story of superpermutations down to the level of high school counting.

A superpermutation is a string of symbols in which each permutation, or arrangement, of those symbols appears in some order. Imagine, for example, you are trying to thwart the evil plans of a mad scientist and must key in a secret passcode:

Suddenly, inspiration strikes. If you punch in 123451, you’re actually trying two codes: 12345 and 23451. Even better, entering 1234512 will succeed if the code is 12345, 23451 or 34512.

You do some quick calculations. Instead of keying in 600 digits to cover all the possibilities, you now only have to enter 153 digits. You have just enough time — and it works! You’ve saved the day. It’s a good thing you read about “superpermutations” in Quanta.

Finding minimal length superpermutations is a open research problem in mathematics, but recent developments have come from the most unlikely of places! Find our more by reading the article, which is freely available here.

By MrHonner, ago
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