Topic: Bang Your Head on Your Desk - the thread of teaching despair!

[traductio]

According to my students, the mean of a series of numbers in which the highest value is 25 is equal to values greater than 25.  The logic is not strong with this group.

They might be doing order-of-operations errors with the calculator, and then believing whatever it tells them rather than thinking.

It appears what actually occurred is that they divided by the number I used in the example in class, which was a smaller array, rather than dividing by the actual number of digits in the array for the homework. As they are grad students, I remain concerned.  Admittedly we get a lot of math phobic grad students, but usually, they can take an average with the assistance of a calculator. This does not bode well.

Wow. Just wow.

I teach in communication, so it's possible to get by without math. But the level of math-phobia rivals the level of reading-phobia (good lord, what am I doing here...). There's a classic text called "The Mathematics of Communication," in which Warren Weaver paraphrases and popularizes a much more complex theory of communication laid out by Claude Shannon. If you read Shannon's book, you need to understand logarithms, but I don't assign that book. I assign Weaver's text, which does not include any actual math. I have had students simply shut down when they see the title -- "I don't do math," they tell me with what sounds like a hint of pride.

It's frustrating, and more than that, it's a reflection of a certain hostility to exploration for exploration's own sake.

[Hegemony]

I can certainly understand math phobia, and indeed I chose the undergraduate college that I did, above another similar college, because the one I chose had no math requirement. In my case, it was the result of years of terrible math teaching and shaming by math teachers. i clearly remember my third-grade teacher berating me for not understanding division. "You're just not trying! I know you're not as stupid as you're pretending!" she would say, the first in a long line of teachers who though they could shame me into magically understanding. So ... when I'm rebuked for not wanting to explore and play and feel the wonders of math, it's sort of the same feeling as a "The beatings will continue until morale improves" kind of thing.

[OneMoreYear]

I love numbers and math. I start my day with nerdle because I like to play around with numbers. But I realize that my students are not me, and it is likely that some of them have some math anxiety/phobia. We require the GRE (though possibly not in the future), but it's not unusual that we have admitted students who have earned GRE scores in the <5th% for quantitative.
But my students are entering a discipline where some ability to engage with numbers/statistics is necessary. And I teach the courses which most require this engagement. I do try to help students engage their logic--I did several examples of: here is an array of numbers, which of these scores could be the mean? OK, not that one b/c it's larger than the largest score and mean is a measure of central tendency.  OK, now let's calculate and find out.
I'm always sad to hear stories like Hegemony's where students are shamed and scared off from math. My goal is that students are going to get reasonably comfortable, so they are not going to just skip the results section of any article. And, I'm often starting from the beginning with some students.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

According to my students, the mean of a series of numbers in which the highest value is 25 is equal to values greater than 25.  The logic is not strong with this group.

Damn.

[onehappyunicorn]

I can certainly understand math phobia, and indeed I chose the undergraduate college that I did, above another similar college, because the one I chose had no math requirement. In my case, it was the result of years of terrible math teaching and shaming by math teachers. i clearly remember my third-grade teacher berating me for not understanding division. "You're just not trying! I know you're not as stupid as you're pretending!" she would say, the first in a long line of teachers who though they could shame me into magically understanding. So ... when I'm rebuked for not wanting to explore and play and feel the wonders of math, it's sort of the same feeling as a "The beatings will continue until morale improves" kind of thing.

My 4th grade math teacher told me my writing looked like cockroach trailings amongst other derogatory comments. I didn't enjoy another math class until I took statistics many years later in college. I was genuinely surprised when I took that class that I was not, in fact, terrible at math. I ended up in the art field.
I make it a point to include the letter grade in the total column in blackboard as I have had students who were confused by just having the average number there (thinking they had a "C" when they had something like a 68 for example).

[Parasaurolophus]

Today, I heard from a student who claimed that the potential answers on her multiple-choice quiz disappeared after a few words each.

So what was the problem? She didn't maximize the quiz popup window, or scroll to the right.

*headdesk*

How do you even Internet?

[FishProf]

I was just informed by Student Accessibility that I need to have a Zoom session running in my face-to-face lecture for the student who will be sitting in the class.

Who will provide the laptop? Apparently I will.

This is not a straight lecture course.  I have no idea how this is supposed to work.

[kaysixteen]

How would it be your responsibility to provide a computer?

[FishProf]

Well, when it doesn't happen and someone gets called on the carpet for not meeting ADA requirements, it's gonna be me.  Ergo, my responsibility.

I now have to shift that responsibility to Student Services.  Before Wednesday.

[OneMoreYear]

I was just informed by Student Accessibility that I need to have a Zoom session running in my face-to-face lecture for the student who will be sitting in the class.

Who will provide the laptop? Apparently I will.

This is not a straight lecture course.  I have no idea how this is supposed to work.

That one seems strange. I am required to stream my class sessions through not-Zoom for a student who is attending all courses virtually, including my lab course.  But, what is the accessibility reason for a Zoom session if the student is actually attending in-person? A remote interpreter? Student needs to be able to ask questions in the chat vs speaking them orally?

I would be surprised (though I probably shouldn't be anymore) if you as the instructor need to provide a laptop. I'd kick that one back to the student accessibility office, as it's their job to ensure appropriate access. I can't imagine the accommodation letter says: instructor must provide the student with a laptop.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I love numbers and math. I start my day with nerdle because I like to play around with numbers. But I realize that my students are not me, and it is likely that some of them have some math anxiety/phobia. We require the GRE (though possibly not in the future), but it's not unusual that we have admitted students who have earned GRE scores in the <5th% for quantitative.
But my students are entering a discipline where some ability to engage with numbers/statistics is necessary. And I teach the courses which most require this engagement. I do try to help students engage their logic--I did several examples of: here is an array of numbers, which of these scores could be the mean? OK, not that one b/c it's larger than the largest score and mean is a measure of central tendency.  OK, now let's calculate and find out.
I'm always sad to hear stories like Hegemony's where students are shamed and scared off from math. My goal is that students are going to get reasonably comfortable, so they are not going to just skip the results section of any article. And, I'm often starting from the beginning with some students.

This is a wonderful game! Thanks for mentioning it. :D

[the_geneticist]

I was just informed by Student Accessibility that I need to have a Zoom session running in my face-to-face lecture for the student who will be sitting in the class.

Who will provide the laptop? Apparently I will.

This is not a straight lecture course.  I have no idea how this is supposed to work.

Yikes. Our Accessibility folks make it clear that the student is responsible for getting their own laptop, recording device, etc.
Why on earth do you need to have Zoom open for a student who is actually in the room?  Please tell me it's not so that they can type questions directly to you rather than speak.  And if that's the reason, there are other ways to allow it like poll everywhere that would allow everyone to participate that way.

[FishProf]

It's so someone somewhere else can listen in and transcribe for the student who has some hearing impairment.

I am meeting with the Accessibility Director this afternoon.  She is usually reasonable and helpful.

[OneMoreYear]

It's so someone somewhere else can listen in and transcribe for the student who has some hearing impairment.

I am meeting with the Accessibility Director this afternoon.  She is usually reasonable and helpful.

Oh, OK you are getting some type of remote CART service. That does make sense why you'd need to Zoom. Before we started Zooming everything, that type of service was in-person.  But having a remote option does allow the CART provider to be someone who is not on campus, which does help with staffing.  It still should not require you to provide equipment (hopefully). I hope your meeting goes well and you AD continues to be reasonable.

[FishProf]

The best solution is no mask.

Administration has lost their mind on that suggestion.

Anyone got popcorn?