Tad Watanabe
@tadwatanabe.bsky.social
Professor of Math Education at Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA.
(1) If you are teaching Calculus I, out of 10 points, how many points would you give to this student and why?
(2) Is this a reasonable assessment question for Calculus I?
(2) Is this a reasonable assessment question for Calculus I?
October 6, 2025 at 2:46 PM
(1) If you are teaching Calculus I, out of 10 points, how many points would you give to this student and why?
(2) Is this a reasonable assessment question for Calculus I?
(2) Is this a reasonable assessment question for Calculus I?
I've been sitting in a Calculus II class where students are learning various integration techniques - u-substitution, integration by parts, trig substitution, partial fraction decomposition, etc. But so much of exercises are really just algebraic manipulation. Is that normal?
October 2, 2025 at 8:00 PM
I've been sitting in a Calculus II class where students are learning various integration techniques - u-substitution, integration by parts, trig substitution, partial fraction decomposition, etc. But so much of exercises are really just algebraic manipulation. Is that normal?
I was helping a student in College Algebra. She was working on a problem that asked her to evaluate a composition of functions u and w when x = 7, where u(x) = x^2 + 6 and w(x) = SQRT(x + 9). As she calculated, she used her calculator to calculate 7^2 + 6 and once again 55 + 9. Clearly her lack of
September 11, 2025 at 5:55 PM
I was helping a student in College Algebra. She was working on a problem that asked her to evaluate a composition of functions u and w when x = 7, where u(x) = x^2 + 6 and w(x) = SQRT(x + 9). As she calculated, she used her calculator to calculate 7^2 + 6 and once again 55 + 9. Clearly her lack of
I'm on a roll :-)
tadwatanabe.wordpress.com/2025/07/24/c...
tadwatanabe.wordpress.com/2025/07/24/c...
Common Denominator Algorithm for Division of Fractions
In a previous post, I mentioned that interpreting division as quotitive leads naturally to a division algorithm often called common denominator algorithm. I have written a post about that algorithm…
tadwatanabe.wordpress.com
July 24, 2025 at 2:45 PM
I'm on a roll :-)
tadwatanabe.wordpress.com/2025/07/24/c...
tadwatanabe.wordpress.com/2025/07/24/c...
My first blog post in a long while.
tadwatanabe.wordpress.com/2025/07/08/m...
tadwatanabe.wordpress.com/2025/07/08/m...
Multiplication and Division of Decimals (and Fractions)
I observed 2 Grade 5 lessons that were on division of decimals recently, and they made me think a lot about division. In particular, I was wondering why we teach multiplication and division of deci…
tadwatanabe.wordpress.com
July 8, 2025 at 8:44 PM
My first blog post in a long while.
tadwatanabe.wordpress.com/2025/07/08/m...
tadwatanabe.wordpress.com/2025/07/08/m...
There is an interesting article, What is a Mathematical Concept?", by Martin Simon in the recent issue of Mathematics Teacher: Learning & Thinking. I wonder what people think about Simon's idea.
May 30, 2025 at 3:59 PM
There is an interesting article, What is a Mathematical Concept?", by Martin Simon in the recent issue of Mathematics Teacher: Learning & Thinking. I wonder what people think about Simon's idea.